The Spirited Reverie
by Heartless Kittypet
Summary: Once, the Organization had fourteen members. This is the story of Number XIV: who she was, why she was forgotten, and how she showed a few Nobodies that not having a heart, doesn't mean you can't feel.
1. Chapter 1

Hey, everyone! This is my second story...I wasn't sure if my first would be liked, so I decided to upload this one now, instead of later. 

The story is, like the summary said, about a fourteenth member of the Organization. It takes place before KH: CoM, and the romance is between my OC, Rianxan, and Zexion. There might be mention of Axel x Roxas later on, maybe some mild fluff between them. And this OC has no connections with Saria, from my other story. Enjoy, everyone, and please review!

Oh, and I don't own KH, KH2, or Organization XIII...Square Enix does. But if I did...

Anyway, I do own Rianxan...and her somebody counterpart, whose name I will not reveal until later chapters.

* * *

**The Spirited Reverie**

**By **

**LadyDarkDreamer**

* * *

**Chapter 1:**

"That is Memory's Skyscraper. Quite a sight, isn't it?" Xemnas said. His face remained expressionless, even as he watched the young woman beside him stare up at the skyscraper in awe.

He let her admire the building for another moment, before placing a gloved hand on her shoulder. She turned to look at him, question in her eyes.

"It's time for us to move on," he said. "The castle isn't far from here."

The girl's gaze dropped to the ground. After a few seconds, Xemnas grew impatient. His hand squeezed her shoulder, and she took one last fleeting look at the skyscraper before beginning to walk.

"Welcome to The World That Never Was, Rianxan," he said.

**_x-x-x-x-x-x-x_**

"Can someone please tell me WHY exactly we're here?" Axel asked, boredom in his voice. He sat back in his chair, hunched down with his arms crossed. His head was down, even as he watched the other members shift in their own seats.

All of the Organization—minus Saix—was gathered in what Xemnas called the "Meeting Room". Several were seated, while a few stood and wandered aimlessly around the room.

Axel smiled. It could have been any other meeting…

…Except for the fact that ALL the members were dressed in their pajamas.

Though it was always night here in The World That Never Was, the Organization members still found the time to sleep. They were Nobodies, not ghosts. The fact that they didn't have hearts didn't stop them from sleeping, eating, showering, and otherwise doing the same things any normal 'being' would do.

"Because Superior called a meeting?" Demyx answered from his seat across from Axel, looking to the pyro for a response.

Unlike everyone else, Demyx didn't seem to be bothered by the fact that Saix had woken them all up just thirty minutes ago. He was, well….bright-eyed and bushy-tailed.

Usually, the thought of Demyx with a tail would have made him laugh. Right now, it did nothing for his mood. Demyx's choice of sleeping attire also did nothing for his mood.

The musician was dressed in pants and an oversized shirt, both made of blue fabric, with bright red and yellow guitars on it.

Axel was tempted to set them on fire. Instead, he replied, "Yes Demyx, Superior called a meeting." His voice was filled with annoyance, but it quickly turned to sarcasm, "Our dear Xemnas, Number I, called a meeting. But WHY did he call it?"

Standing up, Axel put his hands behind his back and paced a little. Two seats down the table, Larxene leaned back in her chair and put her feet up onto the table. Something was about to happen, and she wanted to enjoy the show.

"Because he needs to tell us something?" Demyx said, trying again. He seemed totally clueless to the dangerous vibe coming off Axel in waves.

Silence followed; all of the members stopped what they were doing to watch what was going on.

Axel stopped his pacing, letting out a heavy sigh and shaking his head. Finally, he turned quickly, slamming both his hands onto the table.

"Demyx, you idiot! Have you failed to realize that it's nearly two in the damn morning??!!" the pyro shouted. "Some of us would rather be asleep, like normal people."

Demyx flinched and moved away from Axel, cringing in his seat for a few seconds as Axel stared at him.

He squirmed uncomfortably under the emerald gaze. "But Axel, we aren't—"

"That's it!" Axel screamed in frustration, throwing up his hands. "I need a drink."

The redhead left the table, and had taken two steps before a voice said calmly, "I wouldn't leave just yet."

Axel shot a glare at Zexion, who was standing rather quietly against the wall, staring out a window.

"And why not, Zexy?" Axel responded.

Zexion turned his attention away from the window, and looked at Axel with bored eyes. "You'll see."

Rolling his eyes, Axel opened his mouth to respond with something rather scathing, only stop as the doors to the room opened. Xemnas walked purposely into the room and to his seat at the head of the table.

Saix quickly followed through the doors…with a young woman walking in front of him.

_What the hell? _Axel thought. _Who is she?_

"If everyone would sit down," Xemnas began. He paused, watching the room with amber eyes as everyone found their way to their chairs.

As Axel took his seat, he kept his attention on the girl Saix was following. She seemed anxious, glancing behind her shoulder every few moments at the berserker following her.

Finally, she came to stand near Xemnas, and Saix took his seat.

"Now," he continued, "I would like to introduce you to the Organization's newest member: Rianxan."

* * *

Kinda short, I know...later chapters will be longer and more entertaining, I promise!

Review?


	2. Chapter 2

Here's Chapter 2! Yes, it's a pretty short chapter...but once I get past Chapter 4, they should get much longer! Anyway, enjoy the story! A little more about Rianxan is revealed this time.

And I want to thank my first reviewer, The White Raven013, for taking to time to, well, review. Thank you. :)

I don't own Kingdom Hearts or the Organization...just Rianxan. :P

* * *

**The Spirited Reverie**

**By**

**LadyDarkDreamer**

* * *

**Chapter 2:**

Murmurs and gasps filled the room as the Organization members realized what their Superior had just said. They began to whisper and exchange looks of surprise and confusion. Some where even bold enough to show some outrage at the announcement.

And all the while, Rianxan stood as still as she could, keeping her gaze locked on the table corner nearest her. But curiosity overcame her, and she finally raised her head and looked at the Organization.

_"What's going on? Is this a joke?"_

_"We already have thirteen members. Do we really—"_

_"Just look at her, puny little thing—"_

_"—she doesn't even look like Organization material."_

_"I can't believe Superior would—"_

"Silence, all of you," Xemnas ordered, his voice carrying across the room.

The whispers stopped, and all eyes found their way to the head of the table again.

"Rianxan has joined our ranks as this Organization's fourteenth member. If you have a problem with my decision, do not bother complaining. My mind is made up, and this meeting is finished," Xemnas concluded, looking over each of the members in turn.

He then turned to leave, looking over his shoulder as he neared the doors.

"No one is allowed to kill her, and if I find her dead or mortally wounded, I will personally take care of the one responsible. And on that note, I will repeat: no one is allowed to kill any fellow members in this Organization."

With that, he left the room, counting on Saix to handle the rest.

**_x-x-x-x-x-x-x_**

The Luna Diviner sighed inwardly as he watched Superior leave the room. Personally, he thought Xemnas should have stayed to handle the other members. But, of course, he had left the rest of the work to Saix.

As Saix stood from his chair, the room was suddenly filled with an outburst of yelling and conversation, as the other members stood and began to argue about what had just happened.

He sighed again, outwardly this time, and quickly realized that Vexen and Xaldin were headed for the doors. The room was still filled loud discussion, and Saix was getting tired of all the noise.

He liked silence. Silence was good.

Too impatient to take the time and tell everyone to sit and be quiet, the berserker summoned his claymore and slammed it into the white marble table.

The room immediately went silent, and everyone turned to stare and Saix.

The look in his eyes was enough to make anyone realize he was close to entering his berserker state, and that was something best avoided. Everyone quickly returned their seats and waited.

**_x-x-x-x-x-x-x_**

Axel turned his attention away from Roxas and Demyx (with whom he'd been discussing the current situation), and looked to the girl—or rather, young woman—that Xemnas had announced as Number XIV.

She was a small thing, barely 5 foot, 4 inches. She was pale, and her hair a dark, rich brown. It touched the tops of her shoulders, falling in gentle waves. Her hair fell forward, framing her face and her green-gold eyes.

He had seen eyes like hers only once before, during a mission he'd been sent on by Xemnas. He had been walking down a dark alleyway, and had crossed paths with a rather scrawny tabby cat. The cat had watched him, unafraid, with eyes of a similar shade to the girl's.

Her eyes showed uncertainty, sadness and…a little innocence? How could any Nobody who joined the Organization be innocent?

Not that he cared, of course. She was just another Nobody, like the rest of them. She was also the lowest ranking member, and therefore, unimportant.

But still, her catlike eyes intrigued him.

Axel smiled. It seemed as though he'd just found the first way he was going to annoy Number XIV.

Behind him, Larxene called out, "Saix, Superior said the meeting was over. Unless you've forgotten, that means we can go."

Ah, dear sadistic Larxene. She was one of the few who would dare speak to Saix in such a tone, when he was so close to diving off the edge.

"That is true," Saix replied, "But we have other things to discuss."

"Such as?" Larxene prompted.

Saix stared at her for several seconds. That silence was broken by Demyx's whiny voice.

"Um, guys? What's her name again?"

* * *

Poor Demyx...I might have a few surprises for him later on. :P 

Thanks for reading, guys. Reviews would be great.

Hmm...looks like I forgot to add a divider between Xemnas introducing Rianxan to the WTNW, and the scene in the Meeting Room...oh well! Chapter 3 will be up in a few days!


	3. Chapter 3

Oh my, I can't believe I waited so long to post the next chapter! I've been busy with some other stuff...sorry about that! I'll make sure to post Chapter 4 this weekend.

Thanks to my second reviewer, Pure Angel of War. :) I hope once the story picks up, more reviews will come!

I don't own KHII or Organization XIII...I do own Rianxan.

Enjoy!

* * *

**The Spirited Reverie**

**By**

**LadyDarkDreamer**

* * *

**Chapter 3:**

You could always trust Demyx to ask the most ridiculous questions.

Saix turned his attention on the musician, his face expressionless and hard.

Axel, on the other hand, was actually ignoring everything but the girl. He watched as, before his eyes, the uncertainty and tension melted away. She uncrossed her arms, her stance becoming solid and determined.

Oh, there was more to this Nobody than met the eye.

She turned to look at Demyx, her hair settling around her face. She was dressed in rather bright clothing: beige corduroys, light blue and white sneakers, and a long-sleeved shirt of the same light blue and white.

Her clothes were also very torn, wrinkled, and wet, like she had been running around in the rain recently.

"My name," she said, speaking for the very first time, "Is Rianxan."

Axel watched as Demyx dropped his gaze to the table and tried repeated the name. After a moment though, he sighed and shook his head.

"Could you repeat it again?" he asked.

A moment passed, but the girl nodded. "Rianxan. It's pronounced 'Ree-ann-ix-in'."

Demyx repeated this several times, shook his head again, and finally offered her a wide grin. "I'll just call you Ria; it's a lot easier that way."

He sat back, that satisfied smile still on his face. Meanwhile, the girl just rolled her eyes and turned her attention back to the Organization members as they watched her.

"Moving on," Saix said, "I will repeat what Superior said before he left: do not kill our newest member."

"You got it," Axel quickly replied, bringing his right hand to his forehead in a mock-salute. "We promise, Number XIV is protected from our villainous advances."

All this he said with a large smile on his face.

Several of the members sniggered at this—namely Roxas and Demyx. Some of the others coughed to hide their amusement, while a few just smiled.

Saix chose to ignore Axel's comment.

"Now, before we go, I need a volunteer to show Rianxan around the castle. She needs to the shown where her room is, where the others can be found, and such."

"So, in other words," Larxene piped in, "You need someone to babysit her."

Axel saw anger flash through the girl's eyes. "I don't need anyone to babysit me," she said defensively.

"Oh, she speaks!" Larxene retaliated.

Rianxan clenched her fists tightly, glaring at the blond that had spoken. The woman returned with her own uncaring gaze, and Rianxan knew then that she wouldn't be getting any help or sympathy from the only other female in the Organization.

"Getting back on task," Saix continued, growing even more impatient, "Is anyone going to bother to volunteer, or must I force someone to take the job?"

"I'll do it!" Demyx said excitedly, raising his hand and waving it enthusiastically.

Everyone stared at the boy. Rianxan eyed him, not quite sure what to make of him, while Saix just gave him a bored look.

"Anyone besides Demyx want the job?" he asked.

"Awww!" Demyx said, his tone turning into a whine again.

"How old is she?" Roxas suddenly asked.

Axel quickly got an idea, and asked, "Does she even have any powers?"

"Don't you mean element, Axel?" Zexion said.

"What about a weapon?" Larxene asked, catching on.

An uproar quickly filled the room, as nearly half the members began asking questions regarding Rianxan and her qualifications. Saix was beginning to think he would have to pry his claymore out of the table and use it again, when Demyx brought on silence with another of his stupid questions:

"Is she even a Nobody?"

Everyone stopped and stared, and Axel shook his head.

"Demyx, you are truly an idiot."

"I am not!"

"Yes, you are. Got it memorized?"

"Silence!" Saix yelled, forcing everyone to flinch and look at him again. Looking to Rianxan, he found her watching the members.

"My element," she explained, "Is spirit."

_**x-x-x-x-x-x-x**_

All of the Nobodies in the room—except Saix, of course—stared at Rianxan with blank looks.

She shifted her weight a little, bothered by all the eyes watching her. _Great, I hate being the center of attention_, she thought.

"And what the hell does that mean?" someone asked. Rianxan looked to the speaker: a tall man with bright red hair and emerald eyes. Aside from the young man who'd volunteered to show her around (he seemed to be the idiot of the group…Demyx, they'd called him?), the redhead seemed to be the most vocal since her arrival.

"It means," Rianxan said, locking eyes with the man, "That I have several powers unique to my element, powers that you probably don't have."

She was tired of dealing with these people…or rather, these Nobodies. They were grinding on her nerves, and all she wanted to do right now was find her room and get some sleep.

The man held her gaze, and didn't break it. "Still don't know what the hell it means. How can 'spirit' be an element?" he replied.

"Spirit is a part of what it means to be human, connected with the mind and willpower, in a way."

Her listener just gave her a cocky grin. "Unless you haven't noticed," he said, pointing to his chest with a finger, "We aren't human."

Rianxan felt her eyes narrow and darken. "We may be Nobodies and have no hearts, but part of us in still human," she said, her tone daring him to say more.

"Oh, excuse me," the redhead said, raising his hands in mock-surrender. Rianxan was quickly growing tired of his attitude.

Without thinking, she said, "For someone I don't know, you sure are a pain in the ass."

"Thank you," the man said, standing up and taking an exaggerated bow. Number XIV rolled her eyes and opened her mouth to reply.

"THAT'S ENOUGH!" Saix shouted, prying his claymore from the table and throwing it across the room. Everyone watched as it spun several times, and ended up embedded in the white

wall. "Axel, sit down, and everyone be quiet."

The room was completely silent for several moments…until Demyx raised his hand.

Saix sighed. "Yes, Demyx?"

"I still want to know what her powers are."

Sighing again, Saix waved a hand at Rianxan. "Show them."

Rianxan would have protested, but the look Saix gave her told her there was no room for discussion. Letting out a heavy sigh of her own, she turned and took several steps away from the table. Turning to face the Nobodies, she said, "My element is spirit…I'm telekinetic and telepathic—"

"Was does that mean?" Demyx asked, interrupting her.

"It means she can move things with her mind," a young man with silver-blue hair, part of it falling over one eye, said, "And she can also speak with her mind."

"Ah," Demyx said.

Ignoring Demyx, Rianxan watched the man who had spoken. He held her gaze with his own dark one, and after several moments Rianxan finally looked away. Finally, she finished, "I can also cast a shield around myself for protection."

"Well that's certainly good to know," Axel said, sarcasm in his tone. He stood up, and Rianxan took a step back as he summoned two odd-looking weapons into his hands. Axel sidestepped away from the table, and she suddenly had the two weapons flying towards her.

Rianxan closed her eyes and raised an arm in defense. She mentally snapped her shield into place, only a moment before the weapons hit her. Instead of inflicting injury, the metal wheels simply bounced off the shield and disappeared.

"Axel," Saix said, his voice dangerous.

"You said not to kill her," Axel replied, "But you never said anything about not attacking her."

Saix just looked at the redhead.

"Hey, it was just a test. Don't look at me like that," Axel said, taking his seat.

"Impressive."

Lowering her arm and the shield, Rianxan looked to the speaker and found him to be the same silver-haired man that had spoken before.

"Yes, impressive," Saix said. "Now that everyone has seen her powers, I will once again ask: does anyone want to volunteer to show Rianxan around?"

Demyx half-raised his hand, but saw the look in Saix's eyes and thought better of it.

Looking around the table, Saix sighed.

He opened his mouth to speak, but was interrupted. "I'll do it."

Everyone turned to look at the speaker—the same young man, with the silver-blue hair, that had spoken before.

"Oh, go Zexy! He actually shows a little heart!" Axel teased.

Zexion turned to the redhead, giving him a look that promised revenge. Saix also looked to Axel, and idea forming in his mind.

"Alright Axel, since you seem so eager to speak tonight, you will be the one to take the task."

"What?!" Axel shouted, looking surprised. "But, Saix, Zexion already—"

Saix summoned his claymore, and it disappeared from the wall and reappeared in his hand. "No more questions. This meeting is now over."

Disappearing the claymore, Saix turned and left the room. After a moment, the other members stood and began to leave the room, disappearing through portals of darkness or taking the doors. Rianxan watched Axel and he stood up and said goodnight to a blonde boy with rather striking blue eyes. He shook his head, and walked over to where she stood. She watched him with defiant green-gold eyes. Axel was once again reminded of the feline he had met in the alley.

"Come on, Catty. The sooner I show you your room, the sooner I get to sleep. This is ridiculous…" the redhead said, trailing off.

_Catty? What the hell is he talking about?_ She thought.

He walked towards the doors, and Rianxan reluctantly followed. She didn't like this arrangement anymore than Axel did.

Just before she passed through the doorway, she stopped. It felt like…someone was watching her? Turning, she locked gazes with Zexion, until he disappeared in a portal of darkness.

_**x-x-x-x-x-x-x**_

"So, how did the meeting go?" Xemnas asked. He was standing before a large window, gazing up at the heart-shaped moon.

"It was hell, Superior," Saix said. "I gave Axel the pleasure of showing Rianxan around."

Xemnas nodded. "Let's hope he's careful around her. She's calm most of the time, but push her too much, and her temper flares. That temper could be useful in the future."

Saix nodded, and left Xemnas to his thoughts.

* * *

Hmmm, I wonder what Xemnas is thinking...

Thanks for reading guys, and please review! I promise the story will pick up soon.


	4. Chapter 4

Yeah, it's Friday...I guess this counts as the weekend. I got bored, and decided to post early...and I need to finish Chapter 5.

Sadly, I'm not getting many reviews...I won't give up, though! I won't give up on my other story, either! If you like senseless humor, please read it! Any reviews would be helpful and greatly appreciated.

Anyway, here's Chapter 4. Zexion makes an appearance, and Axel gets in trouble...

I own nothing but Rianxan.

* * *

**The Spirited Reverie**

**By**

**LadyDarkDreamer**

* * *

**Chapter 4: **

"This is the Castle That Never Was," Axel explained, gesturing widely with his arms at the smooth stone that made of the walls.

Rianxan remained silent, following Axel through numerous hallways and stairwells. She quickly lost track of where she was, and wondering how the hell she was going to find her way around a place this huge.

She was so focused on her thoughts, that she failed to realize that Axel had stopped walking. She ran right into him, falling back and barely keeping her balance. Putting her hand on the wall the steady herself, she looked up and found Axel staring at her.

Blushing from embarrassment, she offered, "Sorry about that."

Axel rolled his eyes. "Sure, whatever," he said, "This is your room. Shower, sleep, do whatever you want. I'll come by in the morning and show you around, maybe."

With that, he walked off.

Once he was gone, Rianxan sighed and turned her attention to the door. After a moment, she put her hand on the doorknob and opened it.

Taking a step into the room, she found herself stopping, her hand still on the doorknob.

After a moment, Ria shut the door behind her and locked it—not that the lock would do any good. If all the members of the Organization could call up portals of darkness, which she suspected they could, then most likely they could teleport to anywhere they wished. And if this were true, then surely private rooms were included in that list.

As she thoroughly explored her new rooms, Rianxan realized several things. First, that they were fairly large; the foremost room was a living room of sorts, holding a couch, coffee table, and a mini-fridge. A door to the left led to a spacious bedroom, with a twin-sized bed, nightstand, and a walk-in closet. Another door led to a bathroom with a shower, sink, mirror, and everything else a bathroom needed.

The second thing Ria realized was that all these rooms were barely furnished. The third thing she realized was that she liked the rooms, except for one thing: everything was white.

All the furniture, walls, carpet, was _WHITE_. As she looked around, Ria felt a little overwhelmed and lost with all the whiteness she encountered. Hell, it was also started to get boring. Finally, she ended her exploring and entered her closet, only to discover it was empty and…white.

Sighing heavily, she left the closet and wondered what the hell she was supposed to do about pajamas, and clothes in general. She was already aware of the Organization uniform she was required to where most of the time; Xemnas had explained everything in great detail after she had agreed to join. According to him, she absolutely had to wear her uniform when going on a mission. When she was hanging around the Castle, she could wear whatever she wanted.

And _where_ exactly was she supposed to get her uniform? The logical part of her brain told her it was late, and that she could figure everything out tomorrow.

Before she knew it, the events of the last twelve hours quickly caught up to her. Ria realized how tired she was and pushed everything but the thought of sleep to the back of her mind. She would deal with everything after she'd gotten some rest.

Still lacking pajamas, she decided to sleep in the clothes she had on. She headed for the bed, pulling off her sneakers and climbing under the plain covers. Within minutes, she was asleep.

_**x-x-x-x-x-x-x**_

Unfortunately, Ria didn't wake up to comfortable silence the next day. Instead, she was awoken by shouting.

Hearing the raised voices, she shut her eyes tightly and covered her head with the pillow. The words 'fire', 'flowers', and 'you idiot' fluttered through the walls and to her ears. She heard a rather large crash, and it sounded at though it came from right outside the door to her suite. There was a quick rush of many footsteps, and the simultaneous shouting of "AXEL!", before the footsteps took off running.

At the yelling of redhead's name, Ria groaned and sat up. Stretching, she rubbed her eyes and opened them, only to find herself staring at something slender and silver in color.

She jumped in surprised, letting out a short scream as she scrambled across the bed to where the windows were. She wasn't paying attention to where she was going, so she came to the edge of the bed. Before she realized it, she fell of the edge and landing with a hard thud on her back, the breath knocked out of her.

Seconds passed as she tried to recover, and did her best to ignore the dull pain in her back and part of her head. She flinched as she tried to sit up, and froze she found the silver…_thing _watching her from the corner of the bed.

It turned its head—at least what Ria assumed to be its head—sideways a bit and continued to watch her, even though it lacked eyes. All it did was watch; it didn't attack, didn't run, didn't try to kill her where she lie defenseless on the floor.

_Okay, not defenseless, _Ria thought. _If I have to, I can call my shield into place before it gets any closer._

Before either being could do anything, though, a loud knock echoed through the rooms. Ria frowned, but quickly realized that someone was knocking on her door.

"Who's there?" she called, keeping a close eye on the silver creature as she stood up and rubbed the back on her head.

She didn't hear the front door open, but a familiar voice came from just outside her bedroom door. "It's Zexion; may I come in?"

"Yeah," she replied, still keeping her attention on the creature.

The door opened and Zexion, dressed in tradition black uniform of the Organization, walked in. He opened his mouth to speak, but stopped as he took in the scene before him.

"Is everything alright?"

Ria took a moment before answering, "I woke up hearing shouts, and then found this," she pointed to the creature, "watching me."

Zexion shook his head. "You, out," he said. The creature turned to look at him, then disappeared.

"Thank you," Ria offered. "Now, what the hell was that thing?"

Zexion watched her for a moment. "A Dusk," he replied

"A…what?" Ria asked, confusion in her eyes.

"A Dusk, one of the lesser Nobodies. A few spend their time around the Castle, and come if you summon them."

"But, why was this one in my room?"

"Dusks are curious things, sometimes. That one might be one of the few Demyx treats like a pet."

Ria looked at him like he was joking, then realized he was serious. "Wow, Demyx really is crazy."

"Yes, he is," Zexion agreed, "If any of the Dusks bother you again, just dismiss them. You're more powerful then they are, so they should obey you."

She nodded, and silence decided to seep through the air and establish itself a faux–ruler, even when it new very well both Nobodies could break its spell.

Then, Ria suddenly remembered she had just gotten out of bed. She was also dressed in the same clothes as yesterday—clothes than had been through soaking rain, Heartless attacks, her first Organization meeting…

She suddenly found herself feeling self-conscious, especially with Zexion standing in her doorway.

Pushing some of her tangled, wavy hair behind one ear, Ria cursed inwardly. "So, um…" she paused, not sure what to ask as first.

"Yes?" Zexion asked.

"I'm sorry if I sound rude, but…what brought you here this morning?"

Zexion glanced out a window to the dark sky beyond at the word 'morning'. He watched her for a moment before taking a few steps into the room.

"Axel was supposed to show you around, and get you situated and explain how things work here."

"Oh, right," Ria replied, not bothering to hide to discontent in her voice.

"But, the Flurry of Dancing Flames is currently being chased through the Castle by Marluxia and Xigbar. No one else seemed inclined to take the job, so I volunteered."

_Marluxia? Xigbar? Which of the members are those?_ Rianxan thought, very lost at this point.

"Flurry of Dancing Flames?" she asked, feeling she needed to have at least one thing explained today.

"Axel," Zexion explained, "Every Nobody in the Organization has a nickname, of sorts. The 'Flurry of Dancing Flames' is Axel's. Xemnas didn't tell you about that?"

Ria shook her head. She absentmindedly ran a hand through her hair, still unbrushed.

"He told me about the Organization, it's goal, and some of the basics," she said. "Nothing too specific."

At hearing this, Zexion gave her a curious look. Ria would have noticed it, but she was too preoccupied looking around the room.

"Alright," Zexion said, "First, we'll get you a uniform, and I'll show you around the Castle. Not that you'll actually need to wander through all the hallways; a dark portal will get you anywhere fairly quickly."

Ria nodded; she didn't bother to mention she had absolutely no idea now to open a portal to darkness.

Zexion turned to leave the room, and Ria followed him. As they reached the door that opened into the hallway, she halted.

"Zexion, you volunteered to show me around last night," she recalled.

Number IV stopped, his hand on the doorknob. Half-turning, he caught her gaze. She found herself looking into the oddest, but most interesting eyes she'd even seen. Zexion's eyes were black, with a ring of very light, icy blue around the pupils.

Ria found she couldn't speak for a moment, but finally found her voice, "But Saix gave the job to Axel. Why?"

Zexion seemed to relax a little. He turned away, opening the door; as he stepped into the hallway, he looked over his shoulder.

"Probably because Axel was bothering the hell out of him."

He disappeared around the cornered of the wall, and reappeared when Ria called his name.

"Why…why did you volunteer to show me around?"

Their gazes met again, and held for a few seconds. Zexion then turned away, and motioned for her to follow.

Wondering why he didn't reply, Rianxan jogged to catch up with him.

What she didn't see, though, was the small half-smile that crossed Zexion face when he turned.

_I don't know why, newcomer, _he thought, _I don't yet know._

* * *

There we go, Chapter 4 is done. I'll get Chapter 5 posted sometime in the next few days... 


	5. Chapter 5

Sorry I didn't update before now! Either the site or my computer wasn't letting me upload this chapter...anyway, here it is, so enjoy. :)

Oops…Zexion is Number VI, not IV (mistake from the last chapter)…I hate roman numerals, personally. I'll try to stay away from referring to the Org. member as their numbers from now on. Oh, and I guessed on Zexion's eye color last chapter…I wasn't sure, so I made it interesting. :P

And THANK YOU to everyone who has taken the time to review my story: Soul Society Cellphones, The White Raven013, Val Ofie, and Devastation-Eve. Thanks so much guys!! I hope you enjoy the chapter.

* * *

**The Spirited Reverie**

**By**

**LadyDarkDreamer**

* * *

**Chapter 5:**

As they walked through various corridors, Rianxan finally grew tired of the quiet.

"So…which of the members are Marluxia and Xigbar?" she asked, trying to make conversation.

Zexion glanced at her as they walked side-by-side. "Marluxia is the one with pinkish-brown hair, and carries a scythe as a weapon. Xigbar has an eye patch."

"What did Axel do to make them angry?"

He scowled a bit. "Axel likes to pull pranks on everyone and annoy the hell out of us; sometimes Roxas and Demyx help him."

Rianxan was about to ask him to elaborate, but they came to an intersection of two hallways, and the sound of shouting filled the area. Zexion brought his arm in front of her to stop her, and then took a step forward and looked down the hall.

Axel, Marluxia, and Xigbar were running this way.

"Damn," he whispered, and backed up a step. Without another word, he grabbed Ria's elbow with one hand and pulled her next to a nearby door. He opened a dark portal with a wave of his free hand, and pulled her through.

Before she could protest, Rianxan found herself enveloped by darkness. Looking around she found that, strangely, she could see Zexion and herself perfectly fine. She walked beside the other Nobody, his hand still gripping her elbow. A moment later, they stepped out of the dark and into another white hallway. The nearby door bore the roman numeral "XII" in gold letters. Ria vaguely remembered her own door have the number "XIV" on it.

"Who's room is this?" she asked, a little uneasy, and wondering why they were bothering another Organization member.

"Larxene's," Zexion answered, knocking on the door.

So, here was one member that knocked instead of randomly teleporting into another's room. She wondered if the rest of the Organization had the same sense of privacy.

Ria was just beginning to wonder who exactly Larxene was, when the door opened rather fast, and she had her answer.

Larxene was the only other woman in the Organization, and right now she looked as though she was very amused.

At seeing the two Nobodies, her eyebrows raised.

"What do you want, Zexy?" she asked, rather flatly.

Zexion sighed. "Don't call me that, Larxene," he said, "I was hoping you'd be willing to help Number XIV with the issue of clothing."

Pale brown eyes looked her over. "Why can't you do it?"

Zexion rolled his eyes, and sighed again. "Larxene…"

"Fine," she said, and stepped away from the door. "Both of you, come in, and don't touch anything."

The blond stepped away from the door, and Zexion dragged Ria into the room. Looking around, she found the walls were painted a pale yellow, with blue and white furniture decorating the room.

Zexion let Rianxan go, and she ignored the urge to rub her elbow.

"What has you in such an good mood?" Zexion asked, walked further into the room.

Appearing from another part of the suite, Larxene gave him a look. "The day began with Axel being chased by Marluxia and Xigbar. If we're lucky, they'll catch him."

Ria looked at her for a moment, and Zexion crossed his arms and said, "Only if we're very lucky."

Larxene laughed unexpectedly, surprising Ria. "It would serve him right if he did get caught. He's burned down Marluxia's garden again, AND ran into Xigbar when the man had alcohol in his hand. The pyro's in trouble."

"Again," Zexion added.

She laughed again, and finally walked over to where Ria stood. "Alright, let's get going," Larxene said, "You coming or waiting, Zexion?"

"Neither," he replied, dropping his arms to his sides. "Superior has a mission for me, and I've got to leave soon."

"Then you'd better get going," Larxene said absentmindedly. She was busy walking around Rianxan and looking her over. Ria waited, wondering what the hell the female Nobody was doing.

She decided to ignore Larxene, and turned her attention to Zexion instead. He nodded in her direction, then opened a dark portal and disappeared through it.

_Thanks for saying goodbye,_ Ria thought, sighing.

"What's wrong with you?" Larxene asked.

"Nothing," Ria replied. Wanting to avoid more silence, she carefully asked, "Why…did you tell Zexion you would help?"

Great, more random questions; she was getting tired of asking those. The sooner she got used to living the Castle That Never Was, and learned everything she needed to about the Organization, the better things would be.

At least, that's what she hoped.

Larxene gave her a look. "I've been the only female in this group for a long time," she explained, "I'm not about to leave a fellow girl to fend for herself."

Ria gave the woman a questioning look. She hesitated a moment, then said, "I thought you hated me."

Larxene laughed. "I hate everyone in this place. There are twelve males running around; nearly all of them lack common sense and cause trouble all the time. It's chaos around here on a daily basis." She paused, then added, "Think of it this way: I hate you a lot less then I do the others."

Ria blinked. "Um…thanks," she said.

"Your welcome," the other Nobody replied. "Now, let's go. I was planning on finding Axel and electrocuting him to help Marluxia and Xigbar out before you came."

She opened a dark portal and pushed Ria towards it.

"I thought you hated the guys."

"I do," Larxene said, "But when I'm not a victim of the chaos, it's so much fun."

_**x-x-x-x-x-x-x**_

Zexion wandered through the corridors of darkness, not yet ready to start his mission. All he had to do was survey the world of Hollow Bastion, and see what the residents were up to and estimate the number of Heartless there. It wouldn't take more than an hour or two, so he had time to kill.

So he wandered, and thought.

His thoughts drifted to Rianxan, and he sighed.

His element was shadow, and one of his powers involved being able to scent others. It was a strange power, but useful. Each individual's scent was unique, and he could tell who it was, and if their own power was fading or growing.

Rianxan's scent was one of lilies and smoke, as far as he could tell. Funny, he would have expected Axel to smell of smoke, since his element was fire. But the pyro smelled of flames and cinnamon, a scent Zexion detested.

He scowled at the thought, and pushed it away.

Finally, he grew tired of his musings and opened an exit portal into Hollow Bastion. The sooner he finished his mission, the sooner he could return.

_**x-x-x-x-x-x-x**_

Letting his gaze fall from the heart-shaped moon, Xemnas turned his attention to the paper in front of him. It was Xaldin's last mission report, and it was boring him. He finished reading it, and placed it back into it's folder before pushing it aside.

He glanced back up at Kingdom Hearts, and recalled the events of the last twelve hours.

Late last night, he had found himself in Twilight Town, making sure everything was quiet and orderly. It was a special world, the place where Nobodies were 'born' after losing their hearts, and he liked to keep a close eye on it.

He had been about to return to the Castle, when he'd spotted a couple of Sorcerer Nobodies—the type under his controlled—gathering down an alleyway and poking at something.

So, Xemnas had walked down the alley to see what his minions were looking at. He'd been expecting to find a stray Heartless, or a homeless dog; instead, he'd found a young woman, Rianxan, unconscious on the ground.

He had been able to tell immediately that she was a Nobody, because of the the insignia on her clothing and on the weapons she held in limp hands.

The time after that discovery had been very strange, indeed. Xemnas had begun to approach the unconscious girl, only to have her wake up and jump shakily to her feet as she realized she was surrounded. She'd gripped her weapons and attacked and killed the nearest Sorcerer.

Xemnas had dismissed the Nobodies then, and then watched as Rianxan spotted him. Hesitance had seeped into her eyes, and she'd taken a step back. He had begun to walk towards her, only to see fire fill her eyes again as she threw one of her weapons his way.

He had dodged the attack, and spent the next hours following the girl throughout Twilight Town, finally cornering her in the woods.

It had been an odd night, but she had agreed to join the Organization.

Turning back to his desk, Xemnas grabbed the next folder—Larxene's mission report—and focused on finishing paperwork.

* * *

Alright, that's it for this chapter! I'll get to work on Chapter 6 and hopefully have that up by the end of the week. 

I also guessed on Larxene's eye color...any pictures I can find of the KH: CoM Organization members aren't very helpful when it comes to that.

Thanks for reading and please review!


	6. Chapter 6

Oh my goodness...I'm SORRY this update was late! I hit a bit of writer's block, and lost track of time. But here's Chapter 6, so enjoy!

I don't own anything KHII; I do own Rianxan.

* * *

**The Spirited Reverie**

**By**

**LadyDarkDreamer**

* * *

**Chapter 6:**

Dressed in her new Organization uniform, Ria turned in front of the mirror in her suite of rooms. She pushed a stray strand of hair out of her face; it was still damp from the shower she'd taken over an hour ago. Finally, she looked herself over.

The cloak she liked, and the silver chain on the front was a nice touch—though she doubted the creator of the uniform had cared about that, since in all likelihood, the creator was male.

Underneath the cloak, she wore black jeans and, of course, a black long-sleeved shirt. Now, she loved the boots; they gave her an extra inch and a half of height, and…were just awesome. The one part of the uniform she disliked with a passion, though, were the gloves.

She flexed her fingers in the soft leather of the gloves, and brought the hood of her cloak over her head. It came down a few moments later, and she flexed her hands again, rubbing her knuckles and scowling at the leather. Whose brilliant idea had it been to add gloves to the uniform?

Ria told herself to ignore them, but soon found herself pulling the cursed things off and throwing them across the room. One landed on her bed, while the other fell short a few inches and fell to the floor. Sighing in relief, she flexed her long fingers again. She stepped forward and laid a palm on the cool surface of the mirror, fingering the chain on her cloak with the other.

She hated the gloves, not because she had anything against leather, but because they didn't let her touch things. There was a reason for hands having so many touch-receptors and nerves in them: it was a way to observe the world and be part of it. With the gloves on, she couldn't feel the smooth glass that was under her hand right now, the small intricate design on the chain, and so many others things.

Maybe that was why the gloves were part of the uniform, to make the wearer feel disconnected from the world. They were Nobodies, so they _were _apart from the world, in a way. But still, that wasn't any reason to take away the simple things.

Ria looked at her reflection in the mirror, and thought. Xemnas was the leader of the Organization, so it was most likely him that designed the uniforms, and told the members what it meant to be a Nobody.

_What it means in his eyes_, she thought bitterly.

Axel had said they weren't human, and she had countered that part of them was still human. When Xemnas had first found her, he and explained what a Nobody was and everything about it, and part of that explanation had been that they couldn't feel.

Ria scowled. Just because they didn't have hearts, didn't mean they couldn't feel to an extent. The heart couldn't possibly be the only part of a human that could feel. Nobodies were half a person, just the body and soul left behind when the heart was taken by the Heartless. The soul was a big part of what it meant to be human, even if the heart was missing.

Surely the soul could still feel something, even it if was a shadow of what the emotion once was.

Sighing, Rianxan stepped away from the mirror and pulled down the zipper of her cloak. She took it off and tossed it on the bed, and briefly glanced at the multiple uniforms that hung in her closet. There was also a dresser in the closet, for everything else that wasn't uniform-related.

Leaving the room, Ria stepped into her bathroom and ran a brush through her hair. She then picked up two necklaces she had taken off before showering. One was a small, eight-pointed star charm on a black ribbon. She put it on, and the charm rested at the base of her throat. The next one followed: a silver dragon, its wings outspread, on a long silver chain.

Finally, she wandered out into the living room, and took one glance at the walls before sighing.

She was fairly convinced that Xemnas had been the main designer of the Castle, as well. Surely the white walls were meant to make the members feel empty and detached.

_I HAVE to paint these rooms,_ Ria suddenly decided, _Or give into impending insanity._

If she remembered, she would ask Zexion where she could find paint and everything she'd need for the project.

She spent several minutes trying to decide what to do next, when she heard a roaring sound outside and several crashes. Shouting came from outside, though fairly far away.

"Not again," Ria muttered, and ran to the door to see what was going on.

_**x-x-x-x-x-x-x**_

Xemnas exited the kitchen, a tall glass of ice tea in his hand—he was, in fact, a large fan of the stuff. No one was around, so he brought the glass to his lips and tipped it…

…only to hear shouts of surprise and rage, and the sound of rushing liquid.

He froze, and looked up to find a large amount of water was cascading down the hallway right for him.

Acting quickly, he let the glass drop to the floor and ducked back into the kitchen, creating a dark portal on the far side.

But he didn't make it to the portal. The water quickly rushed into the kitchen, and he was knocked off his feet as something heavy hit him in the back. Xemnas found himself neck-high in water, the strong current pulling him towards the glass doors that led out onto a large balcony. The force of the water opened the doors, and Xemnas sighed as he grabbed the stone railing, and the water quickly fell to waist-level.

The heavy object that had hit him drifted by, and grabbed the railing as well. Xemnas braced himself against the strong rush of water falling over the balcony, and found himself standing side-by-side with the Gambler of Fate.

"Luxord," he said, acknowledging the man's presence.

"Superior," Luxord replied, "My apologizes."

Xemnas nodded, accepting the gambler's apology for running into him. The two Nobodies stood in silence for the next few minutes, waiting for the flow of water to slow.

_**x-x-x-x-x-x-x**_

She had opened her door expecting to find Axel stampeding through the corridor; instead, Ria found a rather large wall of water crashing by.

Jumping back into the room, she quickly called her element around her. Golden, smoky drafts appeared around her, and she snapped them into a platform under her feet and floated them upward. She got as close to the ceiling as she dared, and sat on the platform with her feet dangling over the edge.

The water began to rise, and she waved her hand. The windows opened, and the water exited through the new openings.

And then the water began to evaporate and pool on the floor. One last rush of water passed through the hall and leaked into the room, bringing with it a young man with dark blond hair in a mullet-styled shape.

The man was soaked. She watched as he stood up, grinning. Water dripped from his coat, and every other part of him.

Ria then cleared her throat, and the man turned and looked around. After a moment, he finally looked up.

"Um, hiya," he said, scratching the back of his head.

"Demyx, right?" Ria asked, her eyebrows raised. Letting go of her magic, the golden lines disappeared, and she dropped gracefully to her feet.

"Uh, yeah," he replied, shifting his weight from foot to foot.

He gave her a nervous look, and she offered him a small smile. She glanced over her shoulder, and then looked at him again.

"You did that?"

"Yeah," Demyx replied. "I control the element of water, so…yeah."

She nodded, not really sure how exactly to respond. Here she was, face to face with the guy that had acted like an idiot and a small child last night. This was the Nobody that treated Dusks like pets. Yet here he was, standing in her living room after creating one hell of a wave.

"And you did this because…?"

Demyx grinned. "Because it's pretty damn fun, and it bothers the other members and disrupts everything. Besides, it's been three weeks since I last did that."

"You do this on a regular basis?"

"Yeah, why not?"

Despite herself, Rianxan laughed at this.

"So," she said, "You treat the Dusks as pets, pull pranks with Axel, and run around creating giant waves just for the hell of it?"

"Pretty much, yeah," Demyx replied, kicking some of the water beside him.

"Zexion was right," Ria continued, "You are crazy."

"Not crazy, just having fun. Really, I'm not as childish as the others might make me out to be," he explained, "I just act like that because it annoys everyone."

Ria crossed her arms, not quite sure how to respond. Today was turning out to be full of the oddest surprises.

"What happens when you get caught?" she asked.

"Xemnas'll probably come up with some punishment, like last time. Having to clean up all the water, or count Heartless in the city will suck, but it was worth it."

Ria opened her mouth to reply, but a strong shout cut her off:

_"DEMYX!!!"_

"Uh oh, I've gotta get going."

He waved to her, and quickly opened a dark portal and disappeared into it.

Several seconds later, three men appeared in her doorway. She recognized Xemnas, and—from what Zexion had said before—figured the man with the eye patch was Xigbar. The tall one with light blond hair, she didn't recognize.

"Have you seen Demyx, Number XIV?" Xemnas questioned.

Rianxan didn't like having his amber eyes focused on her so intently. "He was just here, Superior," she answered, not knowing what else to say.

"Did he say where he might be going?" the blond man asked.

"No idea," she replied, "He left pretty quickly."

At hearing this, the three disappeared into separate portals. Ria shook her head and smiled, but sighed as she looked around at the puddles of water decorating the stone floor.

* * *

There you go! I promise to have the next chapter this weekend! 


	7. Chapter 7

Oh my...I am SO SORRY, everyone! I had some major trouble trying to think of what to write next, and I've been busy with other things as well. But I finally have Chapter 7 here! Again, I apologize for not updating sooner. I'm in a writing mood, so hopefully I'll have the next chapter within a few days!

I don't own anything here, except Ria.

* * *

**The Spirited Reverie**

**By**

**LadyDarkDreamer**

* * *

**Chapter 7:**

Come that evening—at least, Ria thought it was evening; it was hard to tell when it was always night outside—she found herself wandering the corridors. Hunger had finally driven her out of her rooms, and she was searching for the kitchen. She had skipped lunch, but couldn't wait any longer.

Having left her cloak and gloves on her bed, she still wore the boots and a pair of black jeans. She had changed into long-sleeved, light purple shirt. All black just wasn't something she wanted to wear every day.

She turned another corner, and sighed. Only more white walls and floor met her eyes. Where the hell was she?

Then she heard footsteps echoing down one hallway, and turned in their direction.

_Who's there? _She asked, sending the thought down the hallway.

The footsteps paused, and then continued.

"Axel. Who's that?"

Ria scowled; Axel was the last person she wanted to deal with right now. She quickly turned, and opened the first door she came to. Only when she looked up, though, did she realize she had entered someone's private quarters without realizing it. The walls were painted a dark blue, and the furniture a range of dark colors and silver. Ria swallowed nervously, and right away grabbed the door and left. Glancing, she found the numeral VI on the upper half of the door.

She turned to leave, only to back up immediately and ram her back hard into the corner where the door met the wall. Her breath hissed at it left her lips, and she gritted her teeth against the pain of the doorknob hitting her back. She then raised her gaze, and found herself the subject of emerald eyes.

Axel stood very close to her, one gloved had against the wall to prevent escape. He gave her a serious, amused gaze, and Ria glared back at him. She shifted her stance a little, not comfortable with having him that close to her.

"Evening, Catty," he said pleasantly, clearly finding the situation funny.

"Don't call me that," she countered defiantly.

Axel ignored her comment. "So, what were you doing in Zexion's rooms?"

Rianxan felt a moment of confusion take her, and then slight panic as she understood. So, it had been Zexion's room she had wandered into by accident.

Curses…

"Nothing," she replied, growing angry now. Axel raised in eyebrow, and waiting for more of an explanation. She scowled at him; she wouldn't give him the satisfaction at knowing she had been trying to avoid him.

"I wonder what Zexy'll think when I tell him I saw you leaving his room," Axel mused. Ria cursed inwardly.

Fine, he wanted an explanation, he would get one. She would lie to his smug face.

"I didn't know it was his room," she said, still scowling. "I was looking for the kitchen, and decided to open a door in hopes of finding it."

The man watching her smiled a bit, and tapped the gold Roman numerals on the door. "And you didn't see this, I suppose."

"I wasn't paying attention."

"Sure," Axel said, "And why did you send out a thought-message asking who was there?"

She gave him harsh eyes. "I heard footsteps, and wanted to know who was there."

"Oh, Zexiy is going to so happy to hear this," Axel replied.

Sighing, Ria tried to push pass Axel; she was growing tired of this. Zexion seemed like a reasonable enough guy, and it was clear that he hated Axel. If the redhead said anything, she would listen to Zexion's questions and explain what had really happened. He would understand…at least she hoped he would. Besides, it was better than dealing with Axel right now.

Instead of letting her pass, Axel moved to block her escape.

Ria set her stance, finding her balance. Before Axel could open his mouth to respond, golden waves of air materialized and she directed her magic and him. She pushed her magic, and shoved Axel against the opposite wall.

He hit the wall with a thud, and struggled against the magic. She held him there, and took two slow steps forward.

Then her magic faltered, and Axel fell to his knees. He caught himself, and quickly jumped up and called his weapons.

"That was a mistake, Number XVI," he said, and danced to the side, tossing one of the weapons in her direction.

Ria leapt to the side and was about to call her own weapons, when a hand wrapped around her waist and pulled her sharply to the far side of the hall. She found herself enveloped by darkness, and the white hall disappeared. She tripped from the momentum, and grabbed the shoulders of the person who had dragged her through the portal. Her balance was lost enough that she fell into the figure, who stepped back to catch himself. The person braced both of them, and waited until she straightened.

Letting out a breath, she let go of the figure. He drew his hood back, and Ria found herself staring at Zexion.

_**x-x-x-x-x-x-x**_

Xemnas sighed and shook his head. He stood on the far side of the room, his 'office', near the windows. He glanced at Demyx; the Nobody was still partially soaked, and dripping on his floor.

"First, Demyx, you will clean up all the water that hasn't yet disappeared from the Castle."

Demyx just watched him.

"All of it, Superior?"

"Yes, all of it."

Xemnas spared a glance out the window, and as he looked back, he caught Demyx wiping a grin off his face.

"And," Xemnas continued, and watched Demyx's face fall a little, "After that is done, you will clean the training room."

Demyx grimaced, and Xemnas smiled. No one had been able to use the training room for last week. No one had gone near it, either. Axel and Roxas had decided to have a practice fight, and it had gotten a little out of hand. Fire had scorched the walls an ugly black halfway up the sides, and streaks brighter than the white of the marble had covered that: the result of Roxas's element. No one had dared try to remove the stains yet, and several suspected they were permanent.

Xemnas paused a moment as a new thought came to mind: Rianxan. She needed to train, to hone her element and her skill with her weapons. There was much she needed to learn, and he didn't have the time or patience to teach it.

But who to appoint her teacher? Who would accept the task without protesting or doing a poor job, or think it unnecessary to train their newest?

His eyes drifted to Demyx, and his mind immediately protested. The youngster was an annoyance at best, and his element and fighting skills were not the best.

Still, Ria had already met him. He didn't trust Axel to train her, and Saix was busy. Roxas was too new as well, Vexen was busy with his potions, and he was sending Xigbar and Xaldin on a rather long mission tomorrow. Lexaeus might intimidate the girl, and Marluxia's temper was short these days. Luxord could do it, but he was on a vacation of sorts…well, as close to a vacation and a Nobody could get. Xemnas was giving him time off from missions, after the man had completed several in a role.

Larxene or Zexion would do, though Zexion didn't have a weapon. He wasn't one to fight much, preferring to hide in the shadows and use trickery and his mind to get things done.

He looked to Demyx again, and decided that the Nobody needed more of a punishment then just cleaning up the water and the training room. Well, not so much punishment as something to keep him busy.

So, he would assign Demyx the task of being Ria's teacher, at least for a little while. Then he would hand the task over to Larxene.

"Then, you will go find Rianxan, and take her to the training room. You are to be her teacher, Demyx, at least for now. Teach her how to fight, to call Nobodies and refine her element to the best of your ability. I expect you to keep an eye on her. When I feel the time is right, I will assign you two a mission to complete."

Demyx looked thoroughly surprised and dumbstruck by this. Xemnas waved his hand, dismissing him, but Demyx took a step forward.

"But Superior, sir—"

Xemnas rested his powerful amber gaze on the Nobody. "Leave, Demyx, before I assign you other tasks a well."

Sighing, and still very amazed, Demyx closed his mouth and left the room.

_Well, damn, _he thought.

* * *

Sorry for the shortness!! I'll get to work on the next chapter right away. ) Reviews would be awesome, guys! 


	8. Chapter 8

Finally, I've finished Chapter 8! Sorry it took so long, guys. I hope everyone had a good New Years, Xmas, Hanukah, Winter Break, and everything that the month of December entails! I also hope everyone enjoys the chapter, and the next will be coming in a few days! I've already started working on it. :)

Disclaimer: I don't own anything Kingdom Hearts related; I just own Rianxan.

* * *

**The Spirted Reverie**

**By**

**LadyDarkDreamer**

* * *

**Chapter 8:**

Rianxan stood there, staring at Zexion for several minutes. She had no idea what to say to him.

"Are you okay?" he asked simply.

She let out the breath she had been holding in silent thanks.

"I'm fine," she replied, and frowned. "Where…why did you take me away from the fight?"

Zexion had half-turned away from her, but he quickly faced her and gave her a look. "Axel could have hurt you, Rianxan," he stated, "He could have killed you."

Ria was a bit taken aback by this; Zexion's bluntness and the way he looked at her had caught her off guard. This was different side to the quiet man she had met this morning. "What…what are you talking about? Xemnas said no one was supposed to kill me."

He shook his head. "You're new, Ria," he continued, "New to being a Nobody, to your powers, your abilities, and the way things work around here. Axel is Axel, and he's been around here a great deal longer than you have. He's stronger and more dangerous to your well-being. He's pissed right now, and he won't think twice about picking a fight with anyone."

This Ria did not take very well. "So what you're saying is I can't defend myself?" she demanded, growing angry now.

"That is not what I said," Zexion protested.

"Yes, it is," she retaliated, "I'm not strong enough to protect myself, so you rescue me before I can get hurt."

She could see him growing frustrated by her words, and she held up a hand as he opened his mouth to speak.

"No, I don't want to hear it. I barely even know you, Zexion, and I certainly don't need to be saved," she spat angrily, and brushed past him in a determined walk.

She heard what she guessed was a sound of irritation, and then the echo of pacing steps.

"Where are you going?"

Ria shook her head, and make a dismissive gesture with her hand. "Leaving."

After a few minutes of wandering around, though, she sighed heavily. Sitting cross-legged on the dark ground, she let her head fall into her hands.

She'd forgotten she couldn't even conjure a dark portal. She was stuck here until Zexion decided to open a portal of his own.

Ria let out another sigh.

"Something wrong, Number XVI?"

She flinched at the clipped tone of his voice. Immediately, she felt sorry for what she had said to him. Ria cursed inwardly at herself for being selfish, and treating Zexion like he was no better than a hated stranger. She turned her head in his direction, staring at her shoulder as she bit her lip in hesitation. Finally, she stood slowly and turned to face him.

She found him pacing back a forth a short distance. But at seeing her stand, he stopped, his hands held behind his back.

"I asked you, Number XVI, if something was wrong."

She flinched again, feeling guiltier. "Zexion…"

"I am of higher rank than you; you will address me as such."

_Okay_, she thought, _I definitely deserved that_. She paused, taking a deep breath before walked towards him.

"Zexion, I'm sorry," she said, ignoring the order he'd given her. "You're right; I…I am new, and weaker than everyone else in the Castle. I shouldn't have picked a fight with Axel, and…I should thank you for saving me." She stopped a moment, coming to stand in front of Zexion. He just watched her, and she took that moment to admire his unique eyes. Ria then laid a hand on his shoulder and said, "Thank you." He watched her curiously, but she ignored the look as she continued, "Again, I'm sorry for saying those things, Zexion. You've been friendlier to me to anyone else, and—"

She stopped as Zexion put a hand on his shoulder, over hers.

"It's okay," he replied. "I shouldn't have been so…harsh. I couldn't let Axel hurt you, so—"

Ria smiled a bit; it was her turn to stop him. She raised her hand slowly and took her hand from his shoulder.

"It's alright Zexion, we're even," she said, "And harsh is kind of a…harsh word."

She got the briefest of smiles at this, but it was a smile nonetheless.

"So..."

"You asked what was wrong before?" Ria asked quickly.

"Yes, I did."

"Well…" she began, hesitating, "You see…I have no idea how to open a dark portal."

"You don't?" he asked, eyebrows raised.

She shook her head, feeling slightly embarrassed at admitting the fact.

"Superior didn't teach you?" he asked.

"No, at least not yet," she admitted.

Zexion seemed surprised by this. After a moment, he nodded and said, "Well, then let's start with the first lesson."

_**x-x-x-x-x-x-x**_

Demyx groaned, and began to lean his sitar against the wall of the training room—the still dirty wall.

Then he thought twice about it, and simply vanished the instrument.

He'd gotten rid of all the water in the Castle, but that had been the easy task. The last three hours he'd spent here, trying desperately to get the stains off the wall. It wasn't working.

First, Demyx had tired calling his water-clones. He had directed them to slam against the walls, in the hopes of washing the stains away. That had failed, as had every other trick he'd tried with his element.

Sighing, Demyx made his way over to the door. As must as he hated to admit it, perhaps a sponge and soap were the best way to go.

It was going to be a very long night.

_**x-x-x-x-x-x-x**_

"So," Zexion said, "We travel through corridors of darkness, pathways that both Nobodies and Heartless utilize. To get to the corridors, we open a portal to darkness by focusing our power. This can be done with a gesture, or even a thought. Since you're newer, it's best to stick with a gesture for now."

Ria nodded. Zexion had told her they weren't leaving until she learned how to open a portal; she would be the one to bring them back to the Castle.

"This is a corridor of darkness we're in now, right?" she asked.

"Yes," he replied. "Okay, I'll show you how to open a portal now, but then I'm going to close it."

He turned a bit to stand beside Ria more, and raised his arm. His hand was closed in a fist, and as he lifted his arm, he opened his hand with a graceful flick of his wrist. Immediately, a dark portal opened, and pulsated as energy hovered around it.

Then, just as quickly, he closed his fist and the portal disappeared.

Ria quietly admired the move, and jumped a little when Zexion touched her elbow.

"Your turn."

Taking a breath, Ria shifted a bit. She glanced over at Zexion quickly, and took another breath. Slowly, she focused on her power as best she could, and willed it to open a portal inside the Castle That Never Was. She sent her power along her arm as she raised it, mimicking Zexion's gesture. Then she waited.

And nothing happened.

Sighing, she closed her eyes and lowered her arm to her side.

"It's alright," Zexion said, "Just try again."

* * *

Reviews would be awesome, guys. :) I've got ideas for the next couple chapters, so they should be coming quick. 


	9. Chapter 9

Here is Chapter 9! I told you guys I'd be updating quickly now that the holidays are over! I should have the next chapter fairly soon, as well, and will probably post it this weekend. Enjoy!

I don't own anything here but Rianxan.

* * *

**The Spirited Reverie**

**By**

**LadyDarkDreamer**

* * *

**Chapter 9:**

As she stepped through the portal, Ria had a satisfied smile on her face. Zexion followed close behind her, setting a hand on her shoulder after a second.

Rianxan turned, and gave him a questioning look. "You might want to close the portal now," he said.

She nodded, and Zexion moved to the side. Ria closed her eyes, and stood there a moment focusing her power. When she had formed a strong thought to instruct the portal to do what she wanted, she gestured with her hand towards the portal. The dark vortex closed, leaving them in a white hallway.

Zexion nodded in approval, and looked around for a moment.

"Maybe next time…" he began, walking down to where the hallway intersected with another, "You might, well…want to be more specific in choosing a location." He looked down the next corridor, and turned back to Ria.

She smiled at the remark, and walked over to where he stood. "I will," she promised, "I really don't want to end up someplace I don't recognize, or worse."

Zexion looked at her, raising an eyebrow. "Worse?"

She shook her head. "You should use your imagination more often," she said lightly. "I wouldn't want to end up, lets say, in someone's room or anything like that. It'd be embarrassing."

"Yes, I imagine it would," he replied. She could see a bit of humor in his eyes.

Ria gave him a look, putting her hands on her hips. She ended up shaking her head again, and turning around in a full circle.

"So, any idea where we are?"

"Somewhat."

Ria watched him for a moment. "Somewhat?"

Zexion just took a step away and pointed down the passageway leading west—at least, Ria thought it was west.

"I think we're somewhere near the kitchen," he explained, "Which is, actually, exactly where I want to be."

"Really? Why?" Ria asked, following Zexion as he set off down the hallway.

It was Zexion's turn to give her a look. "I'm hungry, and it's where the food is."

This Ria understood, and of course, at the mention of food, her stomach reminded her of the initial reason she had left her room. She hadn't eaten since arriving in Castle yesterday. Hunger had been forgotten during the quickness of battle and trying to learn how to open a dark portal. But now, without anything to occupy her mind, she really felt as if she would pass out unless she had something to eat.

As they walked, she absently pushed her hair out of her face. Finally, she asked, "Um…would you mind if I joined you?"

Zexion stopped walking, and gave her a questioning expression.

Not able to find a better way to put the question, she said, "Can I come with you to get something to eat? I haven't had anything all day."

"Of course," Zexion answered, glancing at her as they started walking again. "And why exactly haven't you eaten yet?"

Ria found herself feeling embarrassed, again. "I didn't know where the kitchen was," she admitted. Lowering her eyes, she watched her boots hit the floor as she walked.

"You didn't think to ask anyone?"

She raised her head and looked at him. "No, I didn't think to ask anyone. I was searching for the kitchen earlier, when Axel caught me."

When he didn't say anything, Ria didn't bother to fill the silence. After some time, he asked, "I was wondering about that. What…exactly were you doing in my room?"

Immediately upon hearing the question, Ria felt the blood rushing to her cheeks. In an attempt to hide her embarrassment, she ran her hands through her hair and let the waves fall around her face. Silently hoping with all her being that he wouldn't glance over, she tried to think of a good way to answer.

Apparently she took to long, because Zexion stopped and look at her.

Ria sighed, and opted no to think too much about her answer. "Like I said, I ran into Axel while looking for the kitchen. I wanted to avoid him, so I opened the first door I came to," she explained, slowly raising her eyes to meet his. "I'm so sorry; I really had no idea it was your room! I was in too much of a hurry to notice the numerals on the door. As soon as I realized I was someone's room, I left."

She expected him to say something, anything like "you had no right to be there, or to open that door", but he didn't. Instead, he nodded.

"I understand completely," he said, "Don't worry about it; I just wanted to know why."

Ria just stood there for several seconds. "But—"

He took a step closer to her. "Don't worry about it," he repeated, holding her gaze a moment. His eyes then drifted to something behind her.

"Okay," she replied, not knowing what else to say. "What are you looking at?"

"Kitchen," he said. She turned as he walked around her, and found she was standing in front of a wide arched doorway.

"Oh."

_**x-x-x-x-x-x-x**_

Demyx cursed, tossing the sponge he held across the room. It was a powerful throw, but still the sponge fell a foot short of the far wall.

"This sucks," he muttered. Crossing his arms, he leaned his back against the stained wall and slid to the ground.

There he sat for the next ten minutes, dressed in boots, black jeans and a blue T-shirt. His cloak lay in the middle of the room, where he had tossed it nearly an hour ago. His gloves were still on his hands, as a way to keep from rubbing his skin raw while scrubbing the walls.

Only a small section of wall was clean. It had taken him the entire past hour to scrub the blackness off that TINY piece of stone.

And in the last hour, he'd discovered two things: one, that the black stains from Axel's fire came off just fine…after a whole bunch of scrubbing.

Demyx was surprised his arms hadn't fallen off yet.

The second thing he had learned was that the bright marks from Roxas's element—light—were never going to come off.

"How the hell can light stain anything, anyway?" Demyx asked in frustration.

And then the answer came to him: _Roxas._

Wondering why he hadn't thought of the brilliant idea before, Demyx happily got to his feet. Roxas had made the bright stains on the walls, so surely he could replicate the process again and make the rest of the training room that way. It would solve the problem of the black marks, and the training room would look brand new.

Now, where to find the boy?

Demyx sighed a little; he was too tired to go searching for Number XIII himself.

Another idea struck him, and Demyx smiled. Without wasting a moment, he summoned one of his Dancers. It appeared a few feet away, moving gracefully as it waited for his instructions.

"Go find Roxas," he told it.

The Dancer stood there for a moment, and then disappeared.

His smile widened. Demyx then leaned against the wall, and waited.

_**x-x-x-x-x-x-x**_

"You know, once you learn to open and close a portal quickly," Zexion explained, "You can then summon one around yourself, and not have to bother with opening it elsewhere."

Ria nodded, watching Zexion from where she sat at a good-sized wooden table. Thank goodness, the table wasn't white.

True, the floor and the counters were white, but the appliances and scant furniture were stainless steel and black. Contrasting, somewhat harsh colors, but still…it was color.

Zexion glanced at her as he walked over from the stove, carrying two plates. He set one down in front of Ria, and took a seat beside her.

Saying thanks, Ria looked at the food in front of her and picked up her fork. Zexion had fixed scrambled eggs, bacon, and toast for them both.

"I still can't believe you cook," she said. Standing up, she searched the fridge and returned with a bottle of water.

As she sat down, Zexion shrugged and began eating. After swallowing, he said, "As Nobodies, we don't actually have to eat or sleep, or anything like that. But most of us tend to still do those things, because it's habit. We did it when we were human, so it only seems right to keep doing it."

"Makes sense," Ria answered, standing up again to grab a bottle of ketchup from the fridge. She put some on her plate beside the eggs, and took a bite out of her toast. She then tried the eggs, and found them extremely good. As late dinners went, it was high on the scale of, well, goodness.

"This is really good," she said. She opened the water bottle and took a sip.

The meal continued, filled with some mild conversation.

Finally, after finished the last of the food, Ria looked around at the white walls.

"You know," she said, "This place is _very_ white. It reminds me of a hospital, a bad hospital."

At this, Zexion choked a bit on whatever he had been chewing on. Concerned, Ria quickly stood up and searched the cabinets for a glass. Finding one, she filled it with water from the sink and handed it to him.

Zexion swallowed and drank nearly all of the water. Setting down the glass, he glanced over at Ria.

"Sorry," she offered as she sat back down.

Shaking his head, Zexion drank the rest of the water. "It's okay, it's not your fault. You just caught me by surprise."

Ria smiled. "Really, I'm serious," she said, "Everything in this castle is white, and it's starting to drive me a little crazy."

"You get used to it after awhile."

Shaking her head in disbelief, Ria continued, "I definitely want to do something with my room, paint it if I can."

Zexion opened his mouth to reply, but another voice filled the kitchen.

"There you two are! I've been looking for both of you for the last hour."

* * *

This chapter was longer than the others, so I hope it was good! The chapters should be getting longer from here on. Reviews? 

I also want to thank everyone who has reviewed so far! Thanks, guys! And I want to thank The White Raven013 for the Dancer suggestion! Demyx didn't get his Dancers to actually clean the training room, but he was lazy and used one to find Roxas. Go Demyx. ;) His character is growing on me a bit day by day.

I'm aiming for a ZexionxOC here...I hope I'm doing okay on getting there!


	10. Chapter 10

This one took a little while to write, but it was fun! I actually wrote down a lot of ideas I had for this story, and ended up with several sheets of paper...keeping brainstorming organized is hard! O.o Anyway, I hope everyone enjoys the chapter! 

I don't own anything Kingdom Hearts related, but like many others, I wish I did. I do own Rianxan, though, and she's a cool character. :)

* * *

**The Spirited Reverie**

**By**

**LadyDarkDreamer**

* * *

**Chapter 10: **

"You want me to what?" Roxas asked. He gave Demyx a heavy, questioning look, one he knew was full of confusion.

What in the name of Kingdom Hearts could the musician want with him at this hour of the night? It was after midnight, and he was tired. He was also dressed in only flannel pajama pants and a T-shirt under his Organization cloak. He had managed to pull on his boots when the Dancer whispered to him that Demyx had told it to find him.

Three feet away, Demyx sighed and crossed his arms.

"I want you to use your power to get rid of the black stains," Demyx explained. This was the second time Roxas had asked him to repeat himself, and the request still didn't make any sense.

Roxas groaned inwardly. He wanted to go to his room, to go back to sleep.

Demyx was waiting for a reply, though. "Um…"

Sighing again, Demyx uncrossed his arms and pointed to the very bright marks among the black on the walls.

"You did that," Demyx says, "Everyone knows it. Superior is making me scrub all this black stuff off, and at this rate it'll take me forever. If you can use your powers to repeat what happened when you and Axel fought, it'll save me a hell of a lot of scrubbing. Please, Roxas; I don't want to spend the next month of my nonexistence cleaning these damn walls."

Roxas watched him for a few seconds, and thought about the request, finally understanding what Demyx wanted.

Then he looked the walls over, and suppressed the urge to shiver. He and Axel_ had_ done this, but he hadn't realized the magnitude of the damage they had caused. Then again, he hadn't set foot in the room since that day he and Axel had trained. When Xemnas heard the commotion they were causing and come to investigate, he and Axel had told their Superior that the practice had gotten out of hand. Xemnas had believed them, but what they had told them was only half the truth.

Practice had, indeed, gotten out of hand, but not because they were training. When he had met up with Axel that day, Roxas had noticed he seemed a little off, like something was bothering the pyro. Roxas has asked if anything was wrong, but Axel told him no. They had started practice, but Axel wasn't even trying. Roxas had quickly grown tired of Axel's brooding, said as much, and turned to leave. Well, Axel had gotten angry, and blocked his exit. Roxas had grown angry in turn, and tossed one of his Keyblades at his friend.

That had been the last straw, so to speak. What was meant to be a training session turned into an all-out battle, with both Nobodie's trading blows and blocking attacks, and bringing their elements into play. The battle had ended quite suddenly when Axel jumped sideways to avoid a Keyblade bruising his ribs. Axel had stumbled, let go of his chakrams, and grabbed Roxas's cloak in an attempt to keep from falling.

He'd fallen, nonetheless, and taken Roxas with him. The boy had ended up on top of his best friend. Though both were tired and breathless, they'd managed to blush fairly deep before scrambling to their feet.

Roxas shook his head, pushing the thoughts away. He didn't want to think about that right now...

So, instead of thinking, he turned his attention to Demyx again. "Will I get into trouble if Xemnas hears I helped you?"

"I don't think so," Demyx replied, "He only said I had to clean the training room; he never specified how I was supposed to do it."

Shrugging, Roxas took several steps back and summoned his dual Keyblades.

"Good enough for me," he said. In his mind, he added, _as long as I get to sleep after this, I don't care._ Glancing over at Demyx, he added, "You might want to pull your cloak over your head, or something. It got really bright last time."

Demyx quickly nodded, and grabbed his cloak off the floor. He hastily put it on, and pulled the hood up to cover most of his face. He gave Roxas a thumbs-up, and the boy sighed.

"You owe me for this," he informed Demyx. Shifting his stance, he spun one Keyblade idly and focused his power.

_**x-x-x-x-x-x-x**_

"You have?" Zexion asked, seemingly bored as he stood up set his dishes in the sink. Ria gave him a look, and he said, "The Dusks will take care of it."

She shrugged, and followed his example. She then sat on the counter, doing her best to ignore the look the man standing in the doorway was giving her. He was familiar: light blue hair, orange eyes, and an X-shaped scar on his face. He also made her more than a little nervous as he stood there, staring at both her and Zexion in turn. He looked as though he would rather kill you that bother with anything else.

She recognized him as the Nobody that Xemnas had left in charge when she'd arrived last night. She thought hard, trying to remember his name.

"Yes, I have," was his response.

"Alright, then," Zexion said, "What is it you want, Saix?"

Saix, that was his name. Ria repeated it several times in her head. She would remember his name, however much she preferred to avoid the Nobody in the future. She needed to start learning to recognize all the members, so she didn't look like an idiot when she had to talk to them.

The Nobody seemed to stare harder at Zexion. "Superior wants your mission report before the night's over," he explained, turning to Ria afterward, "And he wants _you_ to know that once Demyx is finished cleaning the training room, he's going to come looking for you. Demyx is going to be your teacher for now, helping you to hone your fighting skill and the like."

With that, Saix conjured a dark portal around himself and disappeared.

Feeling that she was safe expressing her thoughts to Zexion, Ria slid off the counter. "I really don't like him," she said plainly.

Zexion snorted. "No one does much," he replied, "He's seventh in rank, but Superior treats him like he's second-in-command. Xigbar is actually second, but he could care less. The Freeshooter spends his free time drinking and shooting at anything that moves."

"That's pleasant," Ria said.

He glanced at her, and smiled a little. Finally, he said, "I'd better get going. Will you be able to get to your room okay?"

Ria nodded, not wanting to hold him up. "I'll open another dark portal to get there," she said. "Besides, I need the practice."

Zexion nodded in reply, and said goodnight before disappearing into a portal of his own. After the dark energy vanished, Ria sighed for no reason and leaned again the counter. Eventually, she opened a portal near the arched doorway. Focusing it on taking her to her bedroom, she stepped through it.

_**x-x-x-x-x-x-x**_

Roxas sighed happily as he dropped his cloak to the floor, and took off his boots. He'd succeeded in helping Demyx, and now it was time to sleep.

He was sitting on his bed, halfway to turning the light off when he spotted Axel leaning against the wall. Roxas jumped in surprise, and quickly stood up.

Axel's head was down and his eyes closed, his feet crossed at the ankles as he leaned. His arms were also crossed in front of his chest, but they dropped to his sides as he pushed off from the wall. His emerald gaze was set on Roxas.

"Axel, what are you doing?!" Roxas demanded.

"I just wanted to talk, Roxas," was the redhead's answer.

Axel watched him for a moment, then sighed and sat on the edge of the bed. He ran his hands through his hair, and ventured a glance at Roxas.

"Are…you okay?" Roxas asked, his anger at being caught off-guard fading.

"I'm…" Axel sighed, and shifted a little as he turned towards Roxas, "There's something I want to tell you, Roxas. So, don't go all shy on me, okay?"

Roxas frowned, wondering what Axel wanted to tell him. He nodded, sitting cross-legged on the covers. Axel was, after all, his best friend, and best friend's listened to each other when one had something to say.

**_x-x-x-x-x-x-x _**

Once again, Ria didn't awake to calm and quite. This morning it was a persistent, loud knocking on her door that dragged her from sleep.

"Ria? Ria! Will you please get up before Xemnas kills me?"

The voice sounded familiar, and she opened her eyes and glared at her door.

Still half-asleep, she called, "Who the hell's there?"

"Oh, that's a great way to greet someone," came the answer.

Sighing, Ria pushed back the covers and walked over to the door…or rather, stumbled a bit, but she wasn't paying attention to that. Her pajamas consisted of purple sweatpants—Larxene had, rather happily it seemed, let her borrow a pair of scissors to cut the pant legs shorter (they'd been too long)—and a light pink tank top. She would have preferred a color other that pink, but they were just pajamas, so…

Gripping the doorknob, she opened the door to find Demyx standing in her living room, gazing at the sparse furniture. Hearing the door open, he turned and smirked, giving a little wave.

"Hiya."

Ria just stood there and stared at him for a moment. Finally, she let go of the doorknob and leaned against the frame of the door.

"Um, Demyx, what time is it?" she asked vaguely. She rubbed her eyes a bit before crossing her arms and waiting.

"Around eight, I think," he replied.

"And you are here, because?"

He gave her a surprised look. "Xemnas told me I was supposed to start training you, and stuff like that."

Suddenly, she remembered what Saix had told her before. "Oh, I'm so sorry, Demyx!" she began, "Saix said something about it last night, but I forgot until now. I'm sorry for yelling when you knocked!"

Demyx looked relieved, and nodded. "Hey, it's okay; people yell at me all the time," he said. He grinned, and Ria found herself smiling too. "Alright, let's get started," he continued, rubbing his hands together. "I get to be your teacher, so you get to listen to me yell and make you learn stuff, and all that fun. First, go get dressed. I'll wait here and we'll head to the training room from there."

Ria smiled and shook her head, and shut the door again. Quickly, she changed into a pair of dark blue jeans and a red T-shirt, and pulled on her boots and cloak. She stuffed the gloves into her pocket; if she had to practice fighting, she'd probably be better off learning to fight and move in her uniform.

She brushed her hair and teeth, and opened the door to find Demyx sitting on the floor. He stood up as she walked out, and smiled. "Let's begin."

Before he could open a portal, though, Ria asked, "Do you mind if I conjure the portal? I need the practice."

Demyx look at her a little oddly, but shrugged and said, "Sure, go for it."

"Thanks."

* * *

I know KH2 says Nobodies aren't supposed to feel, but...it's so damn hard to write them without emotion. So , I say screw it. :P I'm gonna treat them like real human beings, because it's more fun that way.

Wow...don't know where that came from. :P

I enjoyed adding the parts with Roxas, Demyx, and Axel in. :) Chapter 11 will be up by this weekend, I promise!

Reviews? Thanks, guys. :)


	11. Chapter 11

Here's Chapter 11! This one was fun to write...I don't know why, but it just was. :P Enjoy!

I don't own anything KH2 related. I do own Ria, though.

THANK YOU to everyone who reviewed the last few chapters!

* * *

**The Spirited Reverie**

**By**

**LadyDarkDreamer**

* * *

**Chapter 11:**

Demyx summoned his sitar, and turned to face Ria. She stood a good distance away, waiting for him to give her instructions. He seemed to be having fun being the teacher, but he appeared to be taking the job seriously. So, she would listen to him.

"Alright," he said, "I'm new at this, so…yeah. We're just going to, you know, wing it. Hopefully I'll do an okay job." He flashed her a grin, which she returned. "First, call your weapons; we'll work from there, I guess."

Nodding, Ria smiled. Finally, something she knew how to do.

She took a breath and closed her eyes. She moved her arms slightly away from her sides, and summoned her own weapons. A moment later, she felt their familiar shape in her hands, and she immediately pivoted on her right foot, bring her left so she was standing sideways. Her right hand was raised, while she kept her left hand poised by her hip.

She looked to Demyx, and found him watching her, looking impressed.

"Nice move," he said. "So, you're weapons are knives?"

Ria frowned a moment, then understand his question. Her weapons did, in fact, look like knives or daggers.

"Not exactly," she replied, and flexed her fingers. The single blade divided instantly into many, forming semi-circles around the handles.

Her weapons were, in fact, fans. The handles were a dark gold, and shaped like the Nobody emblem. The blades were silver, and almost 12 inches long, with light blue and white designs on them. A round, light blue jewel was inlaid in the part where the handle met the blades.

She moved her fingers again, and the numerous blades became one again.

Demyx whistled.

"Very nice," he said. "So, I have an idea for practice: my element is water, and I can create clones made of the stuff when I play," he motioned to his sitar, "I'll call up a bunch of the clones, and you can use your powers and weapons to destroy them. We'll keep doing that until we both get tired."

Lowering her right hand to her side, Ria nodded. "That sounds good," she replied.

Grinning, Demyx moved his feet and settled his instrument into a comfortable position. "Just try not to hit me, okay?"

"I'll try," she replied, smiling as she waited for Demyx to start. He waited a moment, and then began to play.

_**x-x-x-x-x-x-x**_

Roxas felt something shift beside him, and his eyes flew open.

He sat up quickly, and looked to his left to find Axel sleeping beside him.

He frowned a moment, then calmed down as he remembered the past night.

Axel had come to tell him something…something unexpected…

_"Rox…what I'm about to tell you, I don't really understand that much myself. We shouldn't be able to feel, but…"_

_Roxas watched his friend, confused. Axel must have seen the confusion, because he laughed a bit. It was an anxious laugh._

_"Axel, I don't understand," he said. "What's going on?"_

_The redhead sighed, and stood up. He paced a little, then sat back down in a rush and ran his hands through his hair. He then looked at Roxas, locking gazes with him._

_"I'm not so good at this whole talking thing, Rox, so…I'll just tell you directly. You okay with that?"_

_The blond paused a moment, and said, "Of course." Axel had such an odd, unique personality, one that was so different from the rest of the Organization members. It was a personality Roxas liked._

_"Well," Axel began, "You see, I…I think I have feelings for you beyond friendship."_

_Something, probably time—since it wasn't his heart, seeing as he lacked one—slid to a halt, and the seconds stalked around the room. Roxas seemed frozen as his brain registered the meaning of Axel's words._

_"You…like me?" he finally managed, "As more than a friend?"_

_"Well, yeah," Axel admitted, "I think so."_

_Roxas couldn't think of a verbal reply, but his mind thought of one: _Wow.

_Silence pounced after the stalking seconds, making them seem longer._

_Finally, Roxas thought, _Do I have other feelings for him?

Maybe, _some part of him replied._

_**x-x-x-x-x-x-x**_

Ria spun on her heel, slashing out with one of her open fans. She cut down a second water-clone as it came close, and paused to take a breath.

But Demyx didn't give her long to recover. He shot by her on a water geyser, calling up more clones as he came to a stop. She was quickly surrounded.

Reacting fast, she ran two steps forward and, using her magic, leapt high into the air. She touched the blue jewels on the handles of her fans as she jumped, and flicking her wrists, tossed them behind her. The blades separated as they descended, propelled by golden waves that made them spin in a widening circle. The clones disappeared at coming into contact with the blades, and Ria landed neatly on the ground several yards away. She summoned her fans back to her hands, whole again, and turned to face Demyx.

He nodded in approval, and leaned his sitar against the wall. He sat down, and Ria disappeared her fans and went to join him.

"Good work," Demyx said, patting her shoulder as she sat down. "Now, let's be lazy for ten minutes before starting again."

She laughed. "Sounds good to me," she replied.

Looking around, she realized that the walls of training room were actually much brighter than the other parts of the Castle she'd seen. That was strange.

Then, the thought she'd been having a lot lately came to mind: painting her suite of rooms.

"Hey, Demyx," she said, "Do you know where I can find some paint?"

She looked over at him, and found the young man staring at her.

"Paint? What for?" he asked.

"If I don't get rid of all the white in my room, I'm going to go crazy," she explained. "I'm dearly hoping that there's paint somewhere in this Castle."

Demyx took the opportunity to laugh, and grabbed his sitar. He rested it in his lap, and played a few simple notes. It sounded like the beginning of a song to Ria, and was different from the notes he played to call his water-clones.

Finally, he said, "There's a supply closet in one of the basements. It's got tools, hardware, paint, everything you could think of. I'll show it too you after we're finished here."

Ria was so happy, she could have hugged him. But since she didn't know him that well, she didn't.

"Sounds good," she replied. Demyx continued to play notes on his sitar, and finally Ria asked, "So, can I recruit you to help paint?"

Demyx laughed again, and nodded.

**_x-x-x-x-x-x-x_**

_"Ax...whatever happens, we'll always be best friends, right?"_

_Axel gave him a look. "Don't ever doubt it, Rox."_

Roxas watched Axel sleep for a few minutes, then slowly slid out from under the covers to get some water.

Things had been…well, a little awkward after Axel's confession. Roxas had thought hard, and discovered he did feel something more towards Axel. He liked spending time with the pyro, and enjoyed being near him. His attitude was a little badass, and even explosive at times if he was frustrated enough. He liked to think it had something to do with Axel's element being fire, but he couldn't be sure. Maybe…he liked Axel's personality because it was nearly the total opposite of his own. And for all the redhead's fieriness, he had a mellower side most days. Not that anyone besides Roxas, and occasionally Demyx, saw that side.

He hadn't really known what to say then, so…he had just scooted over and taken Axel's hand. It was an unexpected gesture, but something they both had needed.

He had then nodded, and suggested they get some sleep. Axel had asked if he could stay, and Roxas had said yes. So, Axel had opened a portal to his room to change into pajamas. Upon returning, they had cuddled together under the covers.

Right before falling asleep, Roxas had asked Axel how he'd discovered that he saw Roxas as more than a friend. Axel had just smiled and pulled him closer.

_"I don't know, Roxas. There's just something about the way you enter a room, with all your Roxi-ness and everything."_

* * *

Reviews? 

It took me forever to figure out what Ria's weapons were going to be. I'm hoping they turned out to be okay, so...yeah. :P I tried to think of something none of the other Organization members had, and came up with the fans.

The story is getting closer to being ZexionxRia, I promise. I just thought I would throw in a little mild AkuRoku to mix things up. Thanks for reading. :)


	12. Chapter 12

Sorry this chapter was a little late. I got caught up with a few things, so...yeah. The chapter's a little shorter than usual, I think, but that's okay. It took me forever to think of what to write next, but it finally came (though it was a little rushed). I promise the next chapter will be better!

I finally finished FF8 a few days ago! Took me forever to beat the game...but it was worth it. The ending was good!

Well, things are a little quiet in my house right now. My cat, Abby, had been sick for a while, so my Mom and I took her to the vet today...and said goodbye. We've still got our two other cats (and my four fish), so everything'll be okay soon. This chapter--though it sounds a little cheesy--is dedicated to my cat. Everyone who has pets knows how close they get to our hearts. :)

I don't own anything here, except Ria.

* * *

**The Spirited Reverie**

**By**

**LadyDarkDreamer**

* * *

**Chapter 12:**

Zexion sighed as he wandered the hallways. Turning a corner, he ignored Xigbar's greeting of "Hey, dude" and continued to his destination of the stairs. He was headed to one of the basements, to Vexen's lab, in fact. The Nobody was conducting experiments, and had some sort of 'brilliant' discovery to share with his colleague.

So, he was off to the basement to see what Vexen was up too.

Spotting the stairs, Zexion veered for them, only to stop when the strong scent of lilies and smoke came to him.

_Rianxan?_ he thought. What was she doing on this level of the Castle? Zexion wasn't even sure she knew about this level, or the numerous basements.

All the same, Ria came rushing down the junction of two of the corridors, turn down Zexion's. She was dressed in jeans and a T-shirt, and was pulling on her cloak as she ran.

Wondering what was going on, Zexion stepped in her way as she came closer. Surprised, she slowed down immediately, nearly running into him. Zexion quickly grabbed her arms, catching and effectively allowing her to keep her balance.

"What's the rush, Rianxan?" he asked calmly, letting her go.

She gave him a confused look as she fought to catch her breath. "There was a strange Nobody in my room," she said quickly, "—whispered something about the Superior. I couldn't really understand it very well…" She dropped off, and Zexion nodded.

"You'd better hurry, then," he replied, "And you didn't use a portal because?"

Ria moved a stray wave of hair from in front of her face. "I was in a hurry," she said, "And I'm not sure where to find him."

"Just direct the portal to Xemnas's office," he advised.

She nodded, said something resembling 'thanks', and disappeared in a rush of dark energy.

Zexion shook his head then; their newest member certainly was a strange one.

It had been roughly two weeks since Saix had found them after their late dinner. He had seen Ria a few times since then, usually passing through the kitchen or at the meetings Xemnas held weekly.

The meetings were Superior's attempt to keep them on task, and focused on their goals. Axel used it as naptime, Vexen for hypothesizing, and Luxord trying to Larxene to play strip poker with him. In short, the meetings were a waste of time.

Zexion had heard that Demyx was training Ria in combat. This seemed, at least to him, a terrible idea. Demyx wasn't exactly the best at battling, let alone responsible enough to actually be trusted to _teach_ someone. But Xemnas seemed fine with the arrangement—and Zexion had heard him mention something to Larxene about taking over Ria's training—and Ria seemed to be fairing okay.

Yet, she still didn't understand the speech of the lesser Nobodies very well, from the look of things.

Shaking his head, Zexion adjusted his cloak a bit before descending the stairs.

_**x-x-x-x-x-x-x**_

Ria let out a breath of relief as she appeared in an office of sorts. It seemed to be the right place, seeing as both Xemnas and Demyx were in the room.

"You are late, Number Fourteen."

She resisted the urge to flinch at the words, and nodded in apology.

"I'm sorry, Superior," she offered, "I slept late, and…"

Breaking off, she looked at the floor beneath her boots. Telling Zexion in a rush that she could barely understand the lesser Nobodies was one thing; admitting that fact to Xemnas was entirely another.

"And?"

Xemnas sounded impatient.

Glancing up at Demyx, Ria quickly decided she wouldn't tell Xemnas. The musician had been training her hard the last two weeks, trying out all the random battle ideas that popped into his head. They had been working, and Ria was grateful for it. He hadn't yet gotten around to showing her how to communicate with the other Nobodies. She would have to bring it up later, but…for now, she didn't want to get him into trouble with Xemnas.

Finally, she said, "Nothing, Superior. I won't be late again."

He seemed to accept this answer, and didn't reply. Ria took the opportunity to walk over to where Demyx stood. As she watched, Xemnas turned away from them, putting his hands behind his back. With his right hand clasping his left wrist, he gazed out the window.

"You have been training for two weeks, Rianxan. It is about time we see how that has been going," he explained. "I'm sending you and Demyx on a mission to the Land of Dragons. Your objective is simple: survey the area, keep out of sight, and kill any Heartless you encounter. You are to stay until dawn tomorrow, and write your mission reports upon returning."

He continued to look out of the window, and Ria glanced at Demyx. He nudged her with an elbow, and his eyes looked at Xemnas.

"Superior," she finally responded, unsure of what else to say.

Demyx shortly followed. "Superior."

With that, they turned and quickly left the room. Ria sighed as she relaxed, and leaned against the hallway wall.

"That was intense," she muttered. Demyx gave her a look, and laughed quietly.

"You'd better go change into your full uniform," he said.

Ria sighed. "I'll meet you at the entrance," she replied, and Demyx nodded before disappearing in a dark portal.

Shaking her head, Ria pulled her cloak off and opened her own portal, feeling as if the morning was passing entirely too quickly.

_**x-x-x-x-x-x-x**_

Zexion just stared at it.

"This is your brilliant discovery, Vexen?"

He looked up at the scientist, eyebrows raised in question. Vexen frowned at him.

"Isn't it marvelous?" he asked, gesturing at the object on the table before them.

Zexion's eyes dropped to the object again. It was a small, round, silver platform with a smooth piece of glass on top of it. From the platform, a small black cord wound its way off the edge of the table, plugging into an electrical outlet nearby. On top of it sat a small cube of glass, each side an inch in length. Inside the glass, hundreds of tiny pinpricks formed a 3D picture of a medieval castle. Before the castle, a tiny knight on horseback was battling a dragon just as minute.

"Well…"

In response this, Vexen stepped forward and touched the black rim on the platform bottom. Zexion looked as the man moved, and spotted a small round button there.

As Vexen stepped completely back, the glass piece on top began to rotate slowly. The crystal cube rotated with it, and colored lights projected upward from the center of the platform. The colors changed as the crystal rotating, throwing red, green, blue, and purple light across the room.

This was Vexen's great discovery? A plastic base that plugged into the wall, supplying miniature light bulbs with power to illuminate a crystal with a design in its center?

"Vexen, did you buy this in Twilight Town?" Zexion asked, not sure how else to respond to this unexpected situation.

"Of course not, I didn't _buy_ it—"

"Have you been stealing Xigbar's heavy liquor again?"

At that question, Vexen stood there with his mouth open for a few moments. He closed it, and then opened his mouth to respond. Zexion raised his hand, though, stopping the man's reply.

"Never mind, Vexen. Is this all you called me down here for? Because it's not so marvelous."

He fixed Vexen with one of his rigid stares, and Vexen only nodded in reply. But he quickly spoke up then, "How can it not be marvelous, Zexion? The work is exquisite, and the detail in the crystal so fine—"

"Yes, yes, it's a nice souvenir," Zexion said impatiently, "I think you need to lay down; I never knew you as one to take random trinkets from a shop."

"I had good reason to be in Twilight Town!" Vexen defended, "I needed some supplies for an experiment, to make Xigbar's more valuable alcohol a little stronger…"

"A little stronger? It seems strong enough to me," Zexion replied. The other Nobody just covered his eyes with a hand and shook his head. Before Vexen could reply, Zexion ushered him out of the lab and shut the door in his wake.

Turning, he watched the light show for a little longer.

Vexen needed to stop drinking so much, at least while he was performing experiments. Drink and science mixing was never good…ever.

* * *

Hahaha xD! I have NO idea were the inspiration for a drunk Vexen came from! I have one of those light-things though (I've no idea what they're really called). A company uses lazers to create a 3D picture in the crystal, and you can set it on the platform and turn on the light. It's actually really cool, and is fun to turn on in the middle of the night. I don't know where that came from either, really... 

Again, sorry for the short and kinda rushed chapter. I'll have Chapter 13 up next week, I promise! Reviews?


	13. Chapter 13

Well, I decided to upload this chapter a little sooner than I planned. I got so many reviews for the last chapter so fast...so, THANK YOU to everyone who has reviewed so far! It's good to know that you guys are enjoying the story. This chapter is a little long, but fun. Enjoy!

I own nothing except Ria.

* * *

**The Spirited Reverie**

**By**

**LadyDarkDreamer**

* * *

**Chapter 13: **

Sitting with her back against the stone wall, Rianxan sighed. Her breath fogged in the chilly night air, and she shifted slightly. It was nearly two in the morning in the Land of Dragons, and she was sitting in a large rectangular slot in the stone wall, on the back of the palace. The slot was up high enough, and it was dark enough that none of the guards below could see her. There was about three feet between the wall and the edge, and she sat with her legs dangling over.

Bring her hood down, she tucked her hair behind her ears. She then pulled it back over her head and squinted at the darkness below.

Demyx had left about an hour ago, to "survey the area" he said.

Ria snorted quietly. What was the point of surveying a world? They only thing they would observe was the daily lives of the inhabitants.

Maybe that was the reason: to see life in action, watching it continue on. Nobodies didn't have lives, and were destined to eventually fade. Maybe watching others—others with hearts—was a way of coping with their half-existence.

Then again, maybe Xemnas just wanting to make sure nothing major was happening. He probably wanted to keep up-to-date on all the goings-on of the worlds.

"Well," Ria concluded in a whisper, "Surveying is boring, whatever the hell it's purpose is."

"You've got that right," a voice answered.

Ria jerked her head upward, and found Demyx standing nearby.

She couldn't see his face, since it was covered in shadow, but she could hear the boredom in his voice.

"Alright," he said, "Your turn for surveying. Try and stay out of sight, or you might end up with an arrow somewhere."

Ria raised an eyebrow, though she knew Demyx couldn't see her face either.

"Okay."

"It happened to me once," he confessed, "It really sucked; I tripped going around a corner, and cursed. One of the guards got lucky and managed to put an arrow in me before I opened a portal."

Despite herself, Ria smiled. She stood up, patting Demyx lightly on the shoulder as she opened a portal. She appeared on a small space of flat roof on the other side of the palace, and crouched down to watch the guards moving on the great expanse of stone courtyard below. Here and there, a lantern had been placed on a ground to illuminate a small area. Other than the patrolling guards, nothing of interest was happening.

Thoroughly bored, Ria sighed again and sat down on the roof. Sliding back a few feet, she laid back and stretched out, resting her hands behind her head as a sort of pillow. She gazed up at the stars for a few minutes, not really thinking of anything important.

So far, her first mission was turning out to be dull and very uninteresting. If most of her future missions were going to be like this, it was going to get very tiring, very fast. What the heck was one supposed to do on these missions? Xemnas certainly couldn't be expecting them to survey the _entire_ time.

She and Demyx hadn't even encountered any Heartless yet. Then again, they hadn't gone anywhere beyond the palace or the city since arriving. They'd stuck to the shadows, talking and taking turns watching the people.

Unable to sit around any longer, Ria stood up and portaled to another roof at the behind the palace. This building was further away from the palace than the others, and surrounded by quite a bit of grass.

She took a few steps forward to look over the edge, and a sudden sound surprised her. She jumped a little and whirled around, calling her weapons to her hands. She searched the area behind her, but found nothing there.

Then she heard the noise again, and vanished her weapons as she recognized it: neighing.

A stable; this building was a stable where they kept the horses. She could have smiled.

Her mind worked quickly as an idea formed in her head. She quietly walked the perimeter of the roof, finding—strangely—that there were very few guards here. Two guarded the large front doors, and the rest of the entrances were closed. They were probably locked from the inside.

Finally, Ria returned to where Demyx was waiting. She surprised him as she appeared beside him, grabbing his arm and pulling him back through the dark portal.

"Whoa, hey! What's up?" he asked as she let him go.

They were in the corridors of darkness, so Ria was able to give him a smile she knew he could see.

She watched him for a moment, then said, "The night's about to get more interesting."

He frowned, so she grabbing his arm again and pulled him through another portal that brought them into the actual stable. He protested loudly, then immediately quieted as he realized they were actually _in_ one of the buildings. Thankfully, they corridor they were in was empty except for candlelight. The wood of the stalls was painted red and gold, and the floor was made up of stone tiles.

"Alright, what's going on, Ria?" he asked quietly, looking around.

Ria lowered her hood, and brought her fingers to her lips. She searched as much of the stable as she dared, and finding no guards, returned to find Demyx looking into one of the stalls. A chestnut mare had her nose pressed to the ornate bars, and watched him with chocolate-colored eyes. Demyx had lowered his own hood, and was petting the mare's nose with several fingers.

"You should take off your gloves," Ria advised, "Their noses are really soft."

Demyx nodded, and pulled off one of his gloves. He gave Ria a questioning stare and the mare sniffed his hand.

"There're no guards in the stable, but there are two outside. We should be as quiet as we can," she explained.

Stepping away from the stall, Demyx asked, "And why exactly are we here?"

Ria shrugged, and began walking down the aisle, looking into each of the stalls. "No offense to our Superior, but this mission is seriously boring. It really shouldn't take an entire twenty-four hours to survey one world," she said, "I found the stable, and figure we'd have a little fun in the last few hours we're here."

Crossing his arms, Demyx watched her. "A little fun?"

Stopping at one stall, Ria looking in to find a black mare standing in the back. She was beautiful, with long legs and a glossy coat. Her mane and tail were long, and she had one white foot on a hind leg.

She turning to Demyx, and smiled. "Have you ever been horseback riding, Demyx?"

Turning back to the stall, Ria lifted the latch and slowly slid the door open. Curious, the black mare brought her ears forward and came to inspect the stranger standing in the open doorway. She had a soft leather halter on, and Ria let the horse sniff her hands before gripping the halter firmly and leading her out of the stall.

As she approached, Demyx looked surprised, and a little uneasy.

"Um…no, I haven't," he admitted. "Are you really sure this is a good idea? What if we get caught? Xemnas'll have a fit if he finds out."

Ria laughed quietly. "Then he won't find out," she countered. He still looked uneasy, so she said, "Demyx, you flood the Castle whenever it suits you, and you don't give a damn what the rest of the Organization thinks about you. Come on, let's have a little fun and not tell Xemnas."

That challenge seemed to sway him, because Demyx put his glove back on and stepped closer to where Ria stood with her horse.

"Alright, let's go for it," he said. "But…how will we get out of here without the guards knowing? And what about returning the horses?"

"We can use a dark portal, and come out just outside the city," she explained, "And don't worry, these are war horses, most likely. They don't fear much of anything, and as long as your quiet and reassure them, they'll trust you. And they're smart; we'll only borrow them for a few hours and then let them go, and they'll wander back home eventually."

Demyx didn't seem to quite believe her, but nodded anyway.

"So, which horse do you want?"

"Um…"

Demyx glanced over his shoulder at the chestnut mare he'd been petting before. The mare was still standing by the stall door, watching them.

"Go for it," Ria assured, "I'll go find where the tack is kept."

"Tack?"

"Saddle and bridle. It would be quicker to just to put bridles on and ride bareback, but…"

"What?" Demyx asked, looking over his shoulder as he opened the stall door. The mare greeted him with a soft neigh, and he hesitantly rubbed her neck.

"You haven't ridden before, so…it's easier to fall off riding bareback."

He shot her a glare, one Ria recognized as the look of a male who didn't appreciate being told he couldn't do something. She gave him a questioning look of her own, and shrugged her shoulders.

Thirty minutes later, two horses and riders rode out of a dark portal.

Ria had argued with Demyx for a few minutes, but finally opted to put just bridles and a blanket on each horse. She'd then given Demyx a few pointers about riding, staying on, and guiding the horse before opening the portal. She and Demyx had then gotten the backs of their horses, and ridden through it.

As they appeared just outside a village at the base of the mountain, Ria turned her mare towards the path leading up and away, and kicked the horse into a canter. The mare kicked up snow behind her, and Ria heard Demyx curse a little as his horse quickly followed.

Smiling, Ria pulled up her hood to keep the wind out of her ears.

Her first mission was turning out to be quite fun.

* * *

That was a fun chapter to write! Zexion WILL be in the next chapter, and maybe Axel and Roxas...

Reviews?


	14. Chapter 14

Here is Chapter 14, FINALLY! Sorry it took so long, guys; I was really busy last week, and then a friend of mine wanted me to work on a story with them (not fanfiction), and then I got writer's block. But I'm back, and I've got LOTS of ideas! So, enjoy the chapter! This is dedicated to all the people who have reviewed this so far! This is also dedicated to weird dreams, broken PS2 controllers (and suddenly remembering after a week you have an extra controller) and saving the world. And ice cream and chamomile tea. This chapter was fun to write. xD And it was written at 3am.

I don't own anything KH2, or the song lyrics at the end (you'll see). I do own Rianxan, though.

* * *

**The Spirited Reverie**

**By**

**LadyDarkDreamer**

* * *

**Chapter 14: **

"Zexion!"

At hearing his name, Zexion halted in the middle of the hallway and turned. Hurried footsteps echoed off the marble walls, coming closer, and he caught the scent of lilies in the air.

Before he could answer, Ria came walking up. Her weapons were closed in her hands, half of her uniform was soaking wet, and her wavy hair was messy and sticking to her skull.

She offered him a smile, and then it vanished as she shivered.

"Are you okay?" he asked, eyebrows raised. Not only did she seem cold, but she looked fairly tired. Her teeth chattered a bit and her weapons disappeared, and she rubbed her arms with her hands. Zexion seriously considered taking off his coat and giving it to her at that moment. The cold couldn't kill a Nobody, but it still made one feel extremely uncomfortable.

"Sorry," she said, her arms falling to her sides. "I j-just got back from a mission."

She shivered again, and Zexion made up his mind. She looked confused as he started to unzip his cloak.

"You're freezing," he said, "Take off your coat, and I'll let you borrow mine for now."

Ria shook her head, and held up her hands in protest. "N-no, it's okay, I'm fine. Demyx and I just h-had to fight a bunch of Heartless in the snow, and then it, it rained…" she broke off as Zexion unzipped his cloak all the way, and proceeded to take it off. She didn't protest though, as her attention was focused elsewhere. Zexion was wearing a tight black shirt, tucked into black jeans and were a bit loose on his frame. Black boots completed the outfit. He looked quite…

"Ria?"

Her head jerked up as she was pulled away from her thoughts. She blushed a little as she realized what she had been thinking, and knew very well that her light complexion—made even paler by the cold in the Land of Dragons—made the reaction evident.

Zexion paused only a second, and then didn't seem to notice as he handed Ria her cloak.

Hoping with all her soul that he hadn't seen her blush, Ria took off her wet cloak. Once she had it off, she stood there a moment, unsure of what to do with it. Zexion quickly took it from her, and she took his offered one. She put it on swiftly, and was happy to find it was warm.

_Of course it's warm, you idiot, _she thought, _he's been wearing it for the last several hours._

Zexion was a good four or inches taller that she was, so the cloak dragged on the floor a bit. She wrapped it around herself as closely as she could.

"Thank you," she said gratefully, giving him a smile.

Zexion nodded, and folded her soaked cloak over his right arm. Biting her lip, Ria said, "Here. I'll take it."

He shook his head. "Don't worry about it. I'll give it to one of the Dusks and they'll clean it. You should go take a hot shower and get some sleep," he said, "You look like you're about to fall over."

Smiling despite herself, Ria shivered again and fought to keep her eyes open. He was right, she needed sleep, but she still had her mission report to write…

She shook her head to clear her thoughts, and looked up to find Zexion passing her cloak to a Dusk. He must have called the Nobody while she was preoccupied.

Telling him thanks again, she picked up the cloak so the edges wouldn't drag on the ground, and turned to leave. She stumbled, and decided she was better off opening a dark portal. When she attempted this, though, all she got was a flurry of black sparks.

"Here, I'll help," Zexion offered, coming to stand beside her. Her mind was getting fuzzy with lack of sleep—she'd been too hyped up, and then bored, and then hungry to nap during the mission—so when she felt Zexion stand next to her, she leaned towards him. Consciously, she knew what she was doing, but she didn't care. She felt Zexion tense for a moment, and then he relaxed, wrapping in arm around her waist to help her stand.

Half-smiling, Ria slid an arm around his back, just underneath his shoulders, to help her stand. She rested her hand on his left shoulder, and used her other hand to keep the cloak up.

"Thank, Zexion."

She lost track of time, and vaguely remembered Zexion opening a dark portal to her room. She thanked him for a fourth time, and leaned against the doorframe of her bathroom as he nodded.

"No problem," he replied.

He turned to leave, but Ria called his name.

"Yes?"

"Over the next few days I'm, well, going to paint everything," she said a little shyly, "I was wondering if maybe you would help out?"

Zexion looked surprised at the request, but he nodded.

She watched him as he left a moment later, her eyes on his back and lower as he moved. She felt her face growing hot as the portal closed, and cursed under her breath a she reluctantly shed his cloak.

Tossing it on her bed, she stepped into her bathroom and turned on the water as hot as she could bear. Why in the name of Kingdom Hearts and all the worlds, was she watching Zexion? And why the hell did her stomach feel as though it was full of wings?

It could have just been the cold, causing her to shiver.

Then again, maybe not.

_**x-x-x-x-x-x-x**_

Xemnas heard shuffling, and raised one eyebrow as he looked up from his desk.

A Dusk stood in front of the desk, only its head visible over the edge. Xemnas tapped his pen, and waited.

The Nobody set a mug of coffee on the desk, and disappeared in a flourish of white.

More shuffling filled his ears, and Xemnas chose to ignore it. Only when he heard the sound of a small cough did he look up, and found Rianxan standing near the door. Her hair was damp and brushed, and the cloak she was wearing was too long for her. Pajamas pants, paired with boots, peeked out from under the cloak.

"Yes, Number Fourteen?"

As Xemnas watched, she came over quickly and set a folder on the corner of his desk.

"I was just bringing my mission report, Superior," she explained, nodding once as she turned to leave.

"I am assuming your first mission went well, Number Fourteen?"

She replied with a quiet 'yes', and disappeared out the door.

Sighing, Xemnas drank coffee from the mug the Dusk had brought him, and scribbled something on the paper in front of him.

_**x-x-x-x-x-x-x**_

She slept for most of the day, getting up around evening only to grab something to eat. Zexion was in the kitchen, having a conversation with a rather tall, muscular man with funny hair. Zexion introduced his quiet colleage as Lexaeus, and she joined the two for dinner. She didn't follow have half the conversation that occurred, but she realized she enjoyed listening to Zexion talk. The sound of his voice was pleasant, so much that she had closed her eyes at one point just to hear him speak.

Ria had rolled her eyes as she left, wondering what her subconscious was trying to tell her. She had then climbed back into bed, and slept for the entire night.

Come morning, she woke up feeling much better than before. She showered again, dried her hair, went about the rest of her morning routine, and got dressed.

Today's outfit consisted of what she demeaned 'painting clothes': dark blue jeans, sneakers, and a black T-shirt with the words "Rock My World" written in silver across the front. Demyx was coming over sometime that day, and they would attempt to get the front room finished. Only as she finished double-knotting the laces of her shoes did she realize Demyx seemed to be a music-oriented person. He would probably find the shirt amusing.

"Oh well," she muttered, standing up and walking into the living room. She had already dragged and pushed the white couch out into the hallway, intent on asking Demyx how to call the lesser Nobodies. The useful creatures could find a better place for the furniture, because she refused to have anything more to do with it. The mini fridge, though, was staying. She had unplugged it, pushing it into the center of the room to avoid getting paint on it. The coffee table had migrated to the hallway as well.

The actual cans of paint were near the far wall, along with blue painter's tape, brushes, and everything else they would need. Ria had chosen a warm red, almost burgundy, for this room. Her bedroom would eventually be a pale yellow, and the bathroom a light blue.

A loud knock came from her door, and it opened before she could even move. Demyx walked in, wearing a white shirt and blue jeans, and carrying two clear plastic cups and…a plate of muffins.

Realizing she hadn't eaten since the night before, Ria rushed over and took the paper plate from him. She set it on her tiny fridge, and took the cup he offered her.

"You are a genius, Demyx," she said, sipping the red liquid in the cup. It tasted like fruit punch.

"Of course I am," he said, grabbing a muffin and taking a large bite out of it. "Now, where's your stereo?"

Picking up a muffin for herself, she was happy to find it was blueberry. "Stereo?" she asked, after swallowing.

"Well, yeah," he replied, disappearing into her bedroom. "We'll get bored pretty quickly without some music to keep things lively."

Ria frowned, and shook her head. She walked to the door, and looked in. "Okay, first of all, why are you in my closet? Get your ass out. And I don't have a stereo," she said.

"How can you not have a stero?" he asked, sounding shocked as he slid the door to her closet closed. He looked at her with wide eyes.

"What?" she asked. "I've been here a little over two weeks; I haven't had time to go shopping."

"Please tell me you like music, at least?"

She gave him a look. Putting her hands on her hip, she said, "Of course I do, Demyx. Do I look crazy?"

He looked thoughtful for a moment, rubbing his chin with a hand and turning his head and he looked her over.

"I don't know," he finally said, "After that stunt you pulled on your first mission…"

"Oh, my…will you stop already? We've got a whole room to paint, so remove yourself from here. Come on, into the living room with you!"

"What about the stereo problem?" Demyx asked, clearly amused as she shoved his towards the door with her elbow.

"If you want music, bring your own stero. But hurry up," she replied.

Laughing, Demyx walked into the living room and disappeared into a portal. Ria finished her breakfast and waited, and he returned a few minutes later with a small black stero and a handful of CDs. He plugged in the machine, and contemplated the layout of music before him. Another minute, and he finally decided, sticking the CD in the player and pressing the button.

"What are we listening too?" she asked. Grabbing one of the plastic containers the paint was supposed to be poored into, she did just that. As Demyx walked over, she tossed him the painter's tape, and then filled another container.

"A mix CD," was his reply.

So, they taped off all the edges they didn't want paint on, and Ria grabbed a brush to start painting along the borders. Demyx chose a long-handled rolling brush, and set about covering one wall in a rich red. Ria didn't recognize the first song as it started to play, but set half of her attention to listening to it. It was good music, a mix of guitar, bass, drums and piano; it was a combination of instruments she liked.

Two hours later, she laughed as Demyx ate nearly half of the last muffin in one bite. They were both spotted in paint, and Demyx had made a blue armband out of the tape. Ria had gotten bored halfway through, and used strips of tape to write her name on her jeans.

"So, what's your nickname?" Demyx asked, putting the last touches on the wall he'd been working on.

"Nickname?"

"Yeah. You know, the kind of defining title you get when you join the Organization."

Ria stood there a moment, then finally realized what he was talking about. "Oh! You mean, like Axel is called the Flurry of Dancing Flames?"

"That's right," Demyx said. "What's yours?"

Ria stopped, the rolling brush she held pressing against the wall she was working on. "I, um….I don't know mine," she admitted. She looked at the floor, and then glanced towards Demyx.

"You don't know yours yet? Xemnas didn't tell you?"

"No," she continued quietly, "There's a lot he neglected to tell me, actually."

There was a pause, the Demyx said, "After we're done here, you should go to a room called Proof of Existence. There are small pillars there, one for each of us. There's a picture of our weapons on each, and our nickname."

"Alright," she replied, nodding. The cheerful mood seemed to have disappeared, so when Ria realized the music had stopped, she set down her brush and went over to the stero. Looking through all of Demyx's CDs, she smiled at she found one that she recognized. She traded the CD in the player for the one in her hand, and pressed play.

The familiar beginning to a song she liked started, and Demyx gave her a thumbs-up. She started to paint again as she lyrics started.

_Are we growing up or just going down?  
It's just a matter of time until we're all found out  
Take our tears, put them on ice  
Cause I swear I'd burn this city down to show you the light_

Ria grinned, and felt compelled to sing along. Before she had become a Nobody, the band that had written this song had been very popular in her world. Had Demyx visited her world at some point, and gotten the CD? Or did the Organization have a music library hidden somewhere in this monstrous castle?

_Cause I'll keep singing this lie if you'll keep believing it  
I'll keep singing this lie  
I'll keep singing this lie_

She heard Demyx humming the tune, and turned to watch. Ria found him painting the wall in beat with the music. Finally, she decided to sing the lyrics."_Cause I swear I'd burn this city down to show you the light_."

At this, Demyx quickly looked over at her. They both smiled, and he jumped in to sing it with her.

"_We're traveled like gypsies  
Only with worse luck and far less gold  
We're the kids you used to love  
But then we grew old  
We're the lifers here till the bitter end  
Condemned from the start  
Ashamed of the way  
The songs and the words own the beating of our hearts _

Cause I'll keep singing this lie  
I'll keep singing this lie."

Dropping his brush, Demyx rushed over and pulled Ria towards an empty corner of the room. Even though this song wasn't really made for dancing, he spun her around.

"_The best part of 'Believe' is the 'Lie',  
I hope you sing along and you steal a line  
I need to keep you like this in my mind  
So give in or just give up._"

Ria laughed, and then suddenly thought about the lyrics in relation to herself, and to the Organization. Xemnas strived to make them believe they couldn't feel at all, which was a lie. But she believe they could feel, as least a bit, with their souls. Surely that couldn't be a lie as well?

No, the two words contradicted each other too much. They made for good song lyrics, but not for applying things to real life. But still, the truth in believing depended on _what_ you believed in, right?

_It's just a matter of time until we're all found out  
Take our tears, put them on ice  
Cause I swear I'd burn this city down to show you the light_

She didn't sing the last part, letting Demyx have the spotlight. Laughing as he struck a pose, Ria bowed dramatically and went back to painting as the next song started.

* * *

The lyrics belong to Fall Out Boy, of course. And I have no idea what the entire task of painting involves, so...yeah. :P

NO, Ria is not falling for Demyx, I swear. They're just friends, and will remain friends. Doesn't everyone sing and dance with their friends on occasion? If not, you should. :)

Zexion is the one Ria is falling for, and the NEXT chapter—which I will have up soon—is going to contain some MUCH waited for ZexionxRia. I promise. The time has come to get the romance of this story started. I can't believe it took this long…I imagined this story would be about 20 chapters when I first wrote it. Looks like it's going to be longer!

Reviews?

We also get to find out what Ria's Somebody name was! Anyone have a guess?


	15. Chapter 15

Holy…Kingdom Hearts!! I can't believe how many reviews this story has gotten so far!! Thank you to all of the reviewers!! You guys ROCK! When we hit 50 reviews, I'll try and think of a way to celebrate it…like an extra long chapter, or take requests for a oneshot or future chapters or something.

So, I wrote the first half of this a few days ago, then hit a block. I sat here for about thirty minutes today, eating an orange popsicle—REALLY good!—and contemplating what to write. I hope I did okay, and that this chapter turned out okay! Peace! (That was so random…)

This chapter is long-ish, also. Enjoy!

* * *

**The Spirited Reverie**

**By**

**LadyDarkDreamer**

* * *

**Chapter 15:**

Four days. It had been four days since he had last seen Rianxan.

Sighing, Zexion shut the book in his lap and stood up. He was in the library, a place that was like a safe haven to him when he wanted to avoid the rest of the Organization. True, Larxene and Vexen often used the library, but Larxene kept to herself. Vexen only stayed briefly, to grab a volume he needed before retreating back to his lab.

He had last seen Ria the evening after her mission, and she had joined him and Lexaeus for dinner. He had fixed pasta with a rich tomato sauce and garlic bread, and the young woman had seemed to thoroughly enjoy it. For some reason, this made him happy.

Putting the book back where he had found it, Zexion wandered down another aisle, reading the titles. Ever since he had run into her that morning, Rianxan had been on his thoughts. He had surprised himself in his impulsive decision to let her borrow his cloak. Ria, in turn, had surprised him by putting her arm under his shoulders so he could help her walk. There had been a lot of surprises that early morning.

Like the blush on her face when he had taken off his cloak. That he had seen.

Did she feel nervous around him? She didn't seem to be. Actually, Ria seemed to enjoy being around him. She seemed to trust him.

Zexion frowned. A fellow Nobody, trusting him? As much as Zexion had worked with the original six Organization members, and as long as he had known them, he couldn't say he trusted them. They weren't his friends, they were his colleagues. He had respect for them, and valued their work and opinions when it came to that work, but he didn't trust them. And he certainly didn't have trust or respect for the newer members. They, in turn, felt he same towards him; he suspected they even saw him as a joke, or an annoyance.

But Ria was the newest of the newcomers, and she trusted him. And…he trusted her too, he realized.

Turning down another aisle, his hands clasped behind his back, Zexion looked up and suddenly stopped short. Rianxan was standing at the far end of the aisle, contemplating a book in her hands. She was dressed in khaki jeans and a long-sleeved, purple shirt. Her hair was down and a little messy.

Surprise caught him, and his stomach clenched for a moment. Absolutely unlike himself, Zexion grabbed the edge of the tall bookcase and spun around. With a quiet whip if his cloak, he stopped in the aisle he had just come from, and pressed his back against the bookcase. Only then did he realize the pace of his breathing had changed. If he had a heart, he suspected it would have been beating very fast at the moment.

Then he frowned again, and cursed quietly. What was he doing? He was Number Six, the Cloaked Schemer; he was quiet and kept to himself, and when he did speak, he spoke whatever was on his mind. He did not put up with anything from the lower ranking members. Yet, here he was, _hiding_ from one of them.

There had to be a logical reason for all of this. Why he was hiding, why he was thinking about her, why was he doing things he normally would never have done for anyone?

What was going on?

No immediately answer came to him, so he pushed away from the bookcase and ran a hand through his hair. He would find the answer later.

Ria had asked him before if he would help her paint her suite of rooms, and for some reason, he had agreed. In truth, the idea of painting a room wasn't particularly thrilling to him. He had gotten the Dusks to paint his own suite, actually. Yet, he had nodded when Ria had asked him, because…because he wanted to spend time with her?

Yes, that was it; there was his answer. He wanted to spend more time with her. Despite the fact he lacked a heart, that he had been living without one for many years, he wanted to spend more time with her. The few times they had eaten together, he had enjoyed—yes, enjoyed, much to his surprise—fixing her food that she liked. Her train of thought was strange, like the way she jumped from one subject another sometimes. He wanted to have more than just a simple, passing conversation with her.

Why hadn't he realized this before now? He was a scientist, practical by nature, and was used to being a keen observer. He noticed everything, and paid attention to what was going on around him most of the time. For example, he had noticed the subtle changes between the way Axel and Roxas acted around each other recently. Axel would flash Roxas a knowing smile, and the blond would look at the pyro with a soft gaze when he thought Axel wasn't looking. There was something going on between the two, something no one else had noticed yet.

Zexion shook his head; he didn't care about that thought at the moment. What Axel and Roxas were up too was their business. What he did care about, though, was…well, he wasn't sure. What he did know, though, was that he wouldn't hide. He would approach Ria and talk to her.

So, he took a deep breath and let it out, and walked around to the bookcase.

Ria was still standing at the far end, but the book was gone from her hands. Now, she had one hand resting on a shelf, and was reading the titles. She pulled another book from the shelf, and ran her fingers through her hair so it wasn't quite as messy. He actually preferred the waves when they were.

Shaking his head, Zexion wondering where that damned thought had come from.

_**x-x-x-x-x-x-x**_

"So, you like to read?" a male voice asked.

Ria looked up in surprised, dropping her book and she turned to see who had spoken. She recognized the person approaching, though, and bent down to pick up the book. As she stood up, she quickly placed the volume back on the shelf.

"Hey, Zexion," she greet as he came to stand nearby. "And yeah, I love to read. I didn't even know there was a library here until this morning, though."

Zexion seemed a little surprised by that. "How did you find it?" he asked.

She shrugged. "I heard Larxene shouting at Axel when I went to get breakfast. She wanted to know where her book was, and said something about not wanting to have to search the entire library to find it," she explained. Crossing her arms, she briefly looked him over. He looked exactly the same as he did nearly every day: standard issue cloak, silver-blue hair covering his right eye, confident stance and stubborn, contemplative expression.

Stubborn expression? When had she started being so alert to exactly what someone looked like?

This thought reminded her, somehow, that she still had Zexion's borrowed cloak. It was laying at the foot of her bed, where she had put it the same night Zexion had given it to her. She hadn't had the heart to move or hang it up…or to return it just yet.

Immediately, she decided she wouldn't return the cloak, unless Zexion specifically asked for it.

_Wait, what?, _she thought quickly.

But her thoughts were halted as Zexion spoke. "Not again," he said, shaking his head. She gave him a questioning look, and he continued, "Larxene is always reading one book, _Marquis de Sade_. It goes missing, and she raises hell until it turns up again."

Ria nodded. "She was certainly screaming this morning. I skipped breakfast in favor of keeping my hearing."

To her surprise, Zexion smiled briefly at the comment.

"What do you like to read?" he asked.

Ria leaned against the bookcase, glancing at the book she had replaced. "Fiction, mostly; you?"

Zexion shrugged, and said, "I'll read anything, if it's good. I don't find that much time to read though; I come here to think, or to have some peace and quiet."

She nodded again, but couldn't think of a way to continue the conversation. Crossing her arms, she glanced up at the top of the bookshelf before setting her eyes on Zexion again.

"You mentioned painting before," he said finally, "And I said I would help. When did you want me to come?"

Ria was surprised at this, and her fingers found their way to the dragon necklace she wore. She moved the charm along the chain and bit the metal a little with her teeth. Then she remembered Zexion was watching her, and quickly dropped it.

"Anytime works," she replied. "I've been kind of lazy the past few days, so there's still one room and half of another to finish."

"I'll come tomorrow, then. Around late morning?"

"Sounds good," Ria answered.

Nodding, Zexion paused for a moment before slowly turning around. Ria felt compelled to say something, but she wasn't sure what. Finally, she said, "Thanks…Zexion."

He halted, and half-turned to look at her.

"For what?" he asked, question in his eyes.

Ria suddenly felt a little nervous; why, she wasn't sure. Not knowing how to reply, she just smiled. Then, feeling hungry, she turned and went to leave the library. Hopefully Larxene and Axel were gone, and she would be able to make it to the fridge without having to fight her way to it.

_**x-x-x-x-x-x-x**_

Zexion didn't know what to make of her smile. The entire conversation had been a little…odd, like they didn't know exactly what to say to one another. But he had said he was coming tomorrow morning, so he would come. Surely they could find something to talk about during the time they were painting.

He watched her as she left, mesmerized a bit by the way she turned and walked away. He noticed the way her hair touched the tops of her shoulders, and how purple was a good color on her. He listened to her footsteps until they disappeared, and closed his eyes, just to listen.

His eyes then opened a second later, and he lifted his head to gaze sharply at the end of the aisle.

Was he…falling for her?

_**x-x-x-x-x-x-x**_

Later that evening, Rianxan changed in her pajamas and yawned a bit. She stretched, and went to climb under the white covers. After she painted, she had decided she definitely needed to change the furniture.

But she paused as she pulled back the covers and sat down, her eyes on Zexion's cloak. She studied it for a moment, then slowly leaned forward pulled it over. It was cold, but…she put it on anyway, and found it rather comfortable as she wrapped it around herself and laid down. She pulled the covers up, and snuggled into the coat.

It smelled…she couldn't describe it exactly, but it made her feel warm and safe. She closed her eyes, half-asleep as she pulled the cloak as close as she could.

It reminded her of Zexion, and she loved that.

She fell asleep then, only to awaken a moment later with start.

Zexion…love? Was what she was feeling, all this strange nervousness and everything, because she was attracted to him?

The wings in her stomach told her yes, and she let out a breath as she thought.

Yes, she liked Zexion very much. Seeing him in the hallway, or the kitchen, or anywhere else made her smile, and she loved his eyes. His eyes she always remembered in her mind, black and icy blue in a healthy pale face. And she loved his cooking.

Her thoughts chased each other around her mind, repeating themselves and creating new ones. As this continued, she eventually fell asleep.

_**x-x-x-x-x-x-x**_

_"Where are we?" she asked, turning around in a circle._

_"Don't you recognize it?" a male voice whispered, very near her ear._

_She shivered, and spun around, only to find no one behind her. Confused, she looked around again, and realized where she was._

_The library, she was in the library, but…it was different. All the books were missing, and the white bookcases weren't white anymore. They were muted, dark, and…covered in shadow, it seemed. Dark shadows that hid the volumes on the shelves and were so thick they held back the brightness of the ivory marble._

_Her breath seized in her lungs for a second, and she quickly called her weapons into her hands, searching for the primal eyes of the Heartless. She remembered all too well how she had ended up in Twilight Town and with the Organization, how she had lost her heart…_

_But no eyes came, and the shadows never moved. And as she took a step forward and watched the shadows, she felt a hand gently cover hers._

_She looked up in surprise, and found herself staring at Zexion._

_"There's no need for weapons, Ria. There is nothing here that will hurt you."_

_"But, the darkness," she protested, glancing over her shoulder as she heard movement, "The Heartless—"_

_"This darkness does not belong to the Heartless, Rianxan," he replied evenly, shaking his head, "I promise."_

_"But…" she dropped off, and turned sharply as she heard movement again. Something was coming._

_As she searched the room, she tensed as the shadows rippled. She tried to lift her fans, but Zexion's grip on her right hand tightened._

_"I promise," he whispered behind her. She shivered again, and watched as the shadow rippled outward, the outline of a person in the center._

_She lowered her left hand, and her fans disappeared as Zexion carefully pulled her towards him. She didn't fight as he brought her close, his arms settling around her waist. Her right hand found its way to his shoulder, while she rested the other on his chest. She closed her eyes, letting out a breath as she relaxed and leaned against him a bit. She rested her head against the junction of his shoulder and neck, and listened as they both breathed._

_Then Zexion brought a hand under her chin, and tilted her face up. She froze for a moment, wondering…_

_She didn't have time to complete the thought. Zexion kissed her gently, and her breath caught in her throat. She returned the kiss after a moment, her hands finding their way around his shoulders—_

Ria awoke with a start, and found herself staring at the white ceiling.

As she sat up, the dream came rushing back to her, and she leaned back against the wall with a thud. She closed her eyes, repeated the dream in her head, every word and gesture…and quickly pushed the thoughts away as she blushed. She was the only one in the room, but still…she blushed. Where had that dream come from?

She didn't have time to ponder the question, though. Ria glanced over at the clock she'd borrowed from Larxene a few days ago, and threw back the covers as she realized it was late. Zexion was coming sometime in late morning, but she wasn't exactly sure when. He could be standing outside her door right now, waiting for her to answer while she was still in her pajamas.

Quickly, she grabbed the first thing she spotted and got dressed. She kicked her pajamas into the closet and shut the sliding door with a bang, and rushing into the bathroom as she pulled on black socks. The clothing she had grabbed consisted of dark brown corduroy jeans, and a long-sleeved shirt. It was like a black T-shirt, with a small V neckline that look like it had been cut out with scissors. The sleeves of the shirt were a very light pink, as was the outline of the shirt at the neckline and bottom hem.

As she finished brushing her teeth, she heard a very loud knock coming from the next room. Muttering to herself about strange dreams and the meaning of an _alarm _clock, Ria swiftly passed a brush through her tangled hair and entered her bedroom. She pulled on her sneakers—already tied, thankfully—and ran into the living room.

Fingering the star charm as the base of her throat, she let out a breath and grabbed the doorknob.

She really needed to start getting up earlier, even it she wasn't a morning person.

Rubbing her eyes one last time and pushing her hair out of her face, she opened the door.

* * *

WOW! I really didn't expect this chapter to take so long to write! I did give you guys the little bit of promised ZexionxRia…just, not exactly as I had planned. The chapter got so long I had to split it into two, so the REAL stuff (not the dream-stuff) will be next chapter, which will be up sometime today or tomorrow. Sorry I didn't get around to revealing Rianxan's Somebody name. That'll be next chap as well. And I'll write the ZexionxRia stuff better, also...

Reveiws?


	16. Chapter 16

Oh my gosh, the story's has hit FIFTY REVIEWS!!!! THANK YOU to everyone who has reviewed so far!! You guys are awesome and you rock and…YAY!!!

Alright, so, what should I do to celebrate 50 reviews? Long chapter (longer than the last)? Chapter request? Oneshot request? I'm not very good when it comes to ideas for this kind of stuff. :P Any suggestions would be awesome, and I'll do my best to think of something also!

Okay, here is the chapter! Enjoy! Sorry I didn't get it to you guys sooner! My internet died last night...grrrr...

I own only Rianxan…and her Somebody name, which is revealed in this chapter. :)

* * *

**The Spirited Reverie**

**By**

**LadyDarkDreamer**

* * *

**Chapter 16:**

Rianxan let out a quiet breath as she found Zexion standing outside her door. The man looked the same as he always did, with a patient look in his eye.

_He really needs to wear something besides the standard uniform,_ she thought, and smiled.

"Hey, Zexion," she said, opening the door wide and stepping back. Zexion walked in and she shut the door, and turned to see what he was doing.

"Good morning," he replied. Ria watched as he gazed around the room, studying the red walls she and Demyx had completed only two days ago.

Standing there for a second, Ria crossed her arms nervously and shifted her weight to lean on one foot. Finally, not wanting to be faced with silence—silence, at least right now, was bad; she thought a lot when it was quiet, and she didn't want to think now—she walked over and offered him a smile.

"I'm glad you're here," she offered, "Painting by myself is just boring. There's no one to talk to, and it gets quiet and lonely really fast."

Zexion looked at her, then glanced at the walls. "Who helped you with this room?"

"Oh, Demyx did," she answered. "See the stereo in the corner? It's his; he claimed we couldn't spend hours painting without a little music."

When he only nodded, Ria felt as though she'd said something wrong. Zexion crossed his own arms and walked slowly around the room a bit, not offering to continue the conversation. Had she somehow bothered him by mentioning Demyx?

"He's not coming today," she said carefully, wanting to know if her guess was right. "He's been gone on a mission the last few days, and hasn't been able to pick up the stereo."

Zexion only nodded again, and turned to watch her.

Sighing inwardly, Ria turned and rolled her eyes when Zexion couldn't see. Dealing with the male gender was a hassle sometimes. What about her spending time with Demyx bothered him?

Her thoughts backtracked to her dream, and Zexion holding her in his arms. Zexion kissing her.

Ria closed her eyes and shivered a little, glancing nervously over her shoulder to make sure Zexion hadn't seen. He was just standing there, watching her, so she wasn't sure if he had or not.

Okay, she needed to get away from thoughts of the dream. She felt something for Zexion, she knew, but…wait, could that be it? Could, by some chance of luck, Zexion also feel something for her? That would explain his reaction to her spending time with Demyx; he could be jealous. Or, he could just find Demyx so annoying that he couldn't see how anyone else could stand to be around the guy. Either was plausible.

But Zexion didn't seem the type to be that…bothered…by another being. So, the odds seemed in favor of her first guess.

But could it be right?

"Rianxan?"

"Yeah?" she asked, breaking away from her thoughts. She looked over her shoulder at Zexion, and found he had taken a few steps across the room.

"You were just standing there. Are you okay?"

She mentally cursed herself for letting her mind drift, especially when the object of her thoughts was in the same room. "I'm fine," she said, and headed for the door. She turned and leaned against the frame, and offered him a smile as an attempt to cheer him up. "Alright, so, let's get down to painting. First of all, you'll need to take off your coat and gloves so they won't get dirty. Then we'll grab some paint and all that stuff, and get to work."

Zexion gave her an odd look, and she let her smile widened. Ria then turned and disappeared into her bedroom, only to stop when she realized that the cloak she had borrowed from Zexion was still on her bed. It was wrinkled, and plainly showed that it had been slept in by the way it lay on the bed, with the covers tossed to one side. Rianxan panicked a bit as she heard footsteps approaching behind her. Zexion was here, in her suite, and about to see…

_Uh oh, _Ria thought, as she scrambled across the room. She quickly pushed the cloak off her pillow, and dropped said pillow in the floor beside her. She grabbed the covers and pulled them over the cloak, and flattened everything out as much as possible. Her pillow made its way back onto the bed when Zexion entered the room.

"I don't see why I have to take off my cloak," he said, beginning to pull the garment off, "I believe I can paint perfectly fine with it on."

Ria watched him slip the coat off, but quickly averted her eyes so that he wouldn't catch her watching. Instead, she walked to the end of her bed and grabbed the edge of the metal frame.

"Trust me, it has to come off," she replied. After glancing at him, she ventured, "Why do you wear your cloak all the time, anyway? It gets a little boring after awhile."

He looked at her with curious eyes, and she shook her head to let her hair hide her cheeks as she blushed a little. She was flirting with him, wasn't she? Damn…

Zexion didn't seem to mind; he set his cloak on the bed, and took off his gloves as well. Ria couldn't help but look over his pale arms and fingers. She had been too tired and cold the morning she returned to pay attention to them. Zexion was dressed almost exactly as he had been that morning.

When he stepped away, she began to pull the twin bed away from the wall. Seeming to understand what she was up to, Zexion came to stand beside her and helped her pull. Together, they moved the bed to the center of the room fairly fast. After that, they set about taping off everything with painter's tape, and setting the paint out.

Grabbing a brush to start on the borders, she found Zexion doing the same. She smiled, and headed to one of the windows to start.

After a little while of silence, Ria tried to think of something they could talk about.

"So…what's your Organization nickname?" she asked, not able to think of anything else. She glanced over at him, and noticed his own eyes returned to his work. Had he been watching her?

"What do you mean?" he asked.

Dipping her brush into the yellow paint, Ria slowly and carefully ran the edge along the taped side of the window. "I went to Proof of Existence the other day," she explained, "after I heard someone talk about it. I looked over all the pedestals, and found mine near the entrance. I can't remember all the titles I read."

She finished one side of the window, and decided to work on the border above the white baseboard. Zexion was working on the far corner, so eventually they would meet.

"I'm called the 'Cloaked Schemer'," Zexion said, after and moment. "And you?"

She finished a yellow stroke, and stood up to stretch her back and knees. "The 'Spirited Reverie'," she replied.

Zexion stood up to, and looked over at her. "Pretty."

Smiling at his response, Ria shook his head. "Yours is better," she said, kneeling back down to paint.

"Not really. Yours is more…metaphorical."

She snorted. "Metaphorical? If you think of the synonyms the two words in my title have, I'm considered a strong-willed daydream. Who wants to be a dream? Having a more direct title would be better."

Sneaking a glance, she caught Zexion shrugging. "Yours is direct, in a way. Your element is spirit, correct?"

"Yeah, but…" Ria broke off, not sure exactly how to respond.

Looking at him again, she saw Zexion stand up. He gave her a brief smile, and said, "See? Your name fits, as does mine. Besides, dreams are always more then they appear."

He turned to paint some more, and Ria crouched there for a moment. Had Zexion been flirting with her, just now?

"How exactly does your power work?" Zexion asked. "I know you can move things with a thought, but how does it happen?"

Ria smiled at this. Setting her brush and container of paint on the ground, she stood up. "Okay, I'll show you. Could you come here, please? Bring your brush."

Zexion paused a moment, but came to stand in front of her. Ria played with her necklace with her left hand, and finally took a deep breath and let it out.

"I just, well, visualize the object moving in my mind. I focus my power on that object, and it moves," she explained. To show him, she reached forward and opened his hand so that the paintbrush lay flat on his palm. She nearly avoided blushing as her fingers touched his. Zexion watched the paintbrush as she focused on it, and smoky golden lines materialized in the air. She directed the lines to the paintbrush, raise her right hand a tiny bit, and the brush rose in the air.

Zexion studied the brush with interest, and then asked, "And your telepathy?"

_Not a very useful power, _Ria replied, _I use the same power as moving objects to project a thought into the air, and it sounds like my voice._

He nodded, and caught Ria's gaze as he looked away from the floating brush. Ria lost her concentration as her eyes met his, and the brush dropped.

She reacted without thinking, jumping back to avoid the falling brush, even though she knew it wouldn't hit her. Zexion acted at the same time, reaching out to grab the brush. Unexpectedly, Ria lost her balance and let out a noise as she fell, and prepared herself to land on the hard floor.

But she didn't hit the floor. She heard the brush clatter on the ground as Zexion moved quickly, catching her. One hand held her elbow tightly, while the other rested firmly on her back. Ria grabbed his arm and shoulder as he caught her.

Letting out a breath, she set her feet as Zexion helped her to stand. She held onto him a little longer, meeting his eyes again as she looked up.

They held each other's gazes for a long moment. Before Ria could think twice, she closed her eyes and leaned forward, pressing her lips to his.

She pulled away slowly after a lengthy second, and found surprise in his unique eyes. His grip on her arm loosened a bit, and he opened his mouth as it to say something, but didn't speak.

_Oh my goodness, I can't believe I did that,_ she thought quickly. Heat rushed to her face, and she let go of his arm and shoulder and turned to leave as fast as she could.

But she felt a hand tighten on her arm, and looked over her shoulder.

There was something in his eyes she couldn't name, and he didn't give her time. He looked at her for a moment, stepped closer, and kissed her.

Her stomach jumped, and she couldn't form a solid thought as his lips moved on hers. After a second, she closed her eyes and kissed back. She tentatively rested her hands on Zexion's shoulders, and his hands rested on her waist. He pulled her closer, and one hand found its way to the base of her neck, fingers resting in her hair. In response, she hesitantly pushed aside the hair he used to hide the right half of his face. She ran her fingers along his cheek, and her hand came to rest at the base of his throat. When he asked to deepen the kiss, she complied, and shivered.

Shortly after that, she pulled away to breathe. As she opened her eyes, Ria let out a shuddering breath. She looked up at Zexion, and realized he was breathing fast as well. He smiled and rested his forehead against hers, and Ria found herself smiling as well.

They stood there for several minutes, until Ria pulled away a bit. Zexion gave her a questioning look, and she leaned forward to kiss him again.

_**x-x-x-x-x-x-x**_

Two hours later, Zexion sat beside Ria on the floor, their backs resting against one of the walls they hadn't yet painted. Two plates sat on the floor on either side of them, from lunch. Zexion slide his arm around Ria's waist as she drank the last bit of water in her glass.

"Zexion…what was your name, before you became a Nobody?" Ria asked carefully.

Surprised, Zexion looked over at the young woman beside him.

The kiss she had first given him had surprised him, also. But he had acted quickly, before she could leave, pulling her close and returning with a kiss of his own. He had been afraid that she would push him away, but she hadn't. She had kissed back, and seemed to enjoy it as much as he.

"I…years ago, when I was still human, my name was Ienzo," he answered. "What was yours?"

Ria looked up at him, and half-smiled again. He was beginning to like that smile.

She picked up the dragon charm around her neck and looked at it, studying the details. He noticed that she tended to do that when she was thinking, or nervous.

Looking up, she focused her green-gold eyes on him. "My name was Ariann."

**

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**

FINISHED, finally!! How did I do on the romance scene? I hope it was okay! I don't often write stuff like that. After the kiss, I didn't think they needed words to, well, capture the moment or anything. And Ria's Somebody name has been revealed!!

Reviews?

Next chapter will be up in a few days, I think. There will be more ZexionxRia cuteness, I promise!

The name Ariann is sort of similar to the name of another original character I have, Saria. But the two **aren't related at all, I promise.**


	17. Chapter 17

Sorry it took me so long to update! This chapter is extra special to celebrate hitting 50+ reviews! Thank, guys! This chapter is for you! I wonder if we can hit one hundred before the story ends…which it won't for a little while. Still plenty for chapters to come!

I own only Ria and Ariann…which are essentially the same being…yeah.

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**The Spirited Reverie**

**By**

**LadyDarkDreamer**

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**Chapter 17:**

"It's a beautiful name," Zexion ventured. He watched her, and Ria blushed and looked away for a moment.

"Thank you," she said, turned to look at him again. "You have a good name, too."

Zexion snorted, and moved to stand up. He offered Ria a hand to help her up, which she took. All the while, she gave him a curious look.

"What?" she asked, tilting her head. "I don't think what I said was funny."

He watched her for a moment, and couldn't help but smile. "My name when I was human wasn't the best; I believe I actually despised it."

Surprise filled her eyes, and Ria put her hands on the hips. "How can someone hate their name? Are you joking?"

Zexion shook his head. "I just never liked my name; I prefer the one I have now." He leaned against the metal headboard of her bed, and Ria came over to sit on the edge of the mattress, still watching him.

"What about when you get your heart? Will you take back your old name then?" she asked.

He opened this mouth to reply, but paused, and glanced over at her. He had not been expecting a question such as that.

Would he take his old name back, if the Organization ever managed to recover their lost hearts? Truthfully, to him, the goal of getting his heart back seemed unlikely. It seemed more probable that he would spend his days in shadow, existing until he no longer wished to. But what_ if_ he recovered his heart?

No, he would never take back his old name. He had lost that part of himself long ago. He still had his soul, but he was Zexion now. He would always be Zexion; if he got his heart back, he would keep that name.

Carefully, he answered, "I don't think I would. I lost Ienzo when I lost my heart, and I've been Zexion for a long time. I think, if I were to become human again, I would continue being Zexion."

Ria nodded, and he could see understanding in her.

eyes. For such a young Nobody, she understood quite a bit.

"And yourself?" he continued, "Which name would you choose?"

Her eyes fell to the ground, and she thought for a moment. When she caught his gaze again, she said evenly, "Ariann." A moment passed, and she bravely scooted over and set her hand on his, which was rested on the top of the headboard. "I still like your old name, though. It's not as bad as you make it out to be."

Half-smiling, Zexion moved to hold her hand, squeezing it gently. Then, he thought, _Are we moving too quickly?_

Ria dismissed his question when she laced her fingers through his. Zexion was tempted to kiss her again.

"So, I've told you about my power," Ria said, "But what's yours?"

Sighing inwardly, Zexion decided he would kiss her later, and vowed it would be a longer kiss than the last.

"My powers are odd, but useful," he began. "I can sense the power in others, sort of…smell them, if you will. Each being has a different scent, and I can tell how their power fluctuates by how strong or weak that same scent is."

Ria looked at him for a moment. "That is strange," she replied, "So, um…what is my scent like?"

"Lilies and smoke," Zexion answered, his voice pleasant.

"Smoke?" she asked, smiling and shaking her head.

"It's quite a lovely combination," he said, pulled her close and kissing her again. She gladly kissed back, relaxing in his arms and leaning against him. One hand found its way into her hair, while the other trailed gently from her shoulder and down her back, coming to rest on her hip. The kiss was soft and sweet, and Zexion pulled her closer. When he began to deepen the kiss, though, she pulled away and smiled at him. Eyebrows raised, he gave her a questioning gaze.

"Tell me more about your powers, and then I might let you kiss me again," she said, a playful flicker in her eyes. When he tilted his head a bit, she poked his chest gently with a finger. "I'm guessing there's more to your powers, right? So do you have an element, weapons, abilities?"

"You're quite a curious woman," Zexion replied quietly, "Very much like a cat."

He was caught off guard when Ria's face fell, and she quickly let go of him and took a step back. "Please don't call me that," she said quickly.

"Why? What's wrong?" he asked, wanting to know what he had done to upset her. He closed the distance between them, carefully touching her upper arm with a hand.

"Axel, he's called me 'Catty' several times since I came. I don't like the nickname," she explained.

Nodding in understanding, Zexion rubbed her arm in apology. He hated being called 'Zexy' by Axel and Demyx and the other members, so he knew how she felt.

"So, you wanted to know more about my powers?" he asked, trying to move the conversation away from unwanted topics.

"I would," Ria replied. She watched him as he took several steps back, and moved back a little when the room darkened a bit and the light shifted.

"My element is illusion, or shadow," he began, "I can take on the form of anyone I choose." The air around him rippled for a second, and he was replaced by an exact image of the man named Saix. He took a step forward, the image changed to one of Demyx. "I have no set weapon," Zexion said, only the voice coming from the figure sounded exactly like Demyx's. "Instead, I can create copies of other's weapons, and give them enough form to use against an enemy. Though, I prefer using my intellect and mind over weapons."

As Ria walked around him, he let go of the illusion and returned to his true from. Another moment passed, and Ria called her sharp fans into her hands, and waited. He smiled and focused his energy into a copy of her weapons. They appeared in his hands, and he lunged forward, drawing one fan down in an arch. Ria set her stance and blocked with one of hers, and slashed at his stomach. Zexion jumped back, avoiding the slice, and let the weapons dissolve from his grip.

Finally, Ria let her fans disappear, and said, "That is pretty damn cool."

Despite himself, Zexion laughed. "I have one more thing I want to show you," he said, offering her his hand. She took it, and he called a dark portal around them both.

_**x-x-x-x-x-x-x**_

He took them to the library, and Ria began to ask why they were there, only to fall silent when Zexion covered her lips with a finger. Ria then heard voices, and as they drew closer, she recognized one of the owner's as Larxene. The other two voices she didn't know, but they sounded male.

Zexion then grabbed her arm, pulling her close to him as he stood very near the bookshelf. They stood facing each other, his hand on her waist and one of hers on his chest. The voices came nearer, and the world suddenly changed.

The whiteness of the marble grew dimmer, and shadows gathered around everything. Ria jumped, and Zexion drew her closer as the shadows covered everything but him and her. The voices still echoed clear in her ears, and the shadow world rippled outward as three of the Organization members passed by the aisle. Along with Larxene, one man was tall and sported an eye-patch, while the other walked with his hands clasped behind his back. If she guessed correctly, the man had blond hair, but it was hard to tell with the muted colors.

It was just like…_just like in my dream,_ she realized.

_What's going on? _Ria asked, directing the thought so only Zexion could hear it.

Bring his mouth to her ear, he whispered, "I can hide myself it shadow, seem to be part of them and be invisible to other's eyes."

_So…they can't see us?_

Zexion pulled away and shook his head slowly. Ria looked over his shoulder, and the members passed the aisle by without sparing a glance down it.

"Now," he whispered in her ear, making her skin tingle, "I belief you promised me a kiss?"

_**x-x-x-x-x-x-x**_

They stood on one of the few flat roofs of the Castle, and Ria glanced over at Zexion before taking his hand. He laced his fingers through hers, and continued to look at the sky. After kissing in the shadows of the library, Zexion has brought them here. The view was absolutely amazing.

"Did you change at all, when you became a Nobody?" she asked softly, "Physical appearance, I mean?"

She followed Zexion's example, and studied every architecture line of the city that she could find. She heard Zexion shift a bit, before answering, "A little; my hair was always this color, if that's what you're thinking. My eyes changed, though. They used to be blue. Just blue."

Ria smiled, and glance at him. "I like your eyes now," she said, "At the risk of sounding very female and cheesy, they're beautiful and unique, like darkness and ice melded together."

She was rewarded with a shy smile, and a look at those marvelous eyes. She was beginning to love seeing him smile, and hearing him laugh so often. He seemed different from the quiet, reserved man she had noticed during the night of her arrival. "Thank you. What about you? Did you change at all?" he asked.

Fingering a piece of her hair, Ria looked at it before letting it go. "My hair was a bit lighter than it is now. My eyes weren't as, I don't know…bright, either."

"Bright?"

She nodded. "The gold in them wasn't as noticable, and neither was the green…" she dropped off, pausing a moment. "Actually, I don't remember if they had green in them, or not. They might have been a dark gold, maybe…but I can't…remember..."

Ria didn't continue. At that very moment she felt almost…sad. Sad that she couldn't remember what the exact color of her eyes had been, that she had lost her heart only weeks ago, and her home and her loved ones and…

She started crying. Tears trailed down her cheeks and fell from her chin. For the first time she had been found by Xemnas in the alley in Twilight Town, she cried.

Until now, she hadn't really thought about everything that had happened. She had accepted the loss of her heart and Xemnas's explanations. She had been happy for the fact that she still alive in a way, and hopeful that she would one day be able to recover what she had been. After all this time, she recalled in her mind the Heartless attack that had ended her life, and had most likely destroyed her world was well. The Heartless had been only a story in her world, until that night…

Ria let out a sob, and fell to her knees. Zexion was in the ground beside her a second later, holding her close and whispering. He wanted to know what was wrong.

She didn't tell him, though; at least, not the details. She wasn't ready to tell him everything, at least not yet.

Instead, she cried harder, holding on to Zexion tightly and burying her face in his neck and shoulder. She sobbed about not being able to remember, and how painful it was to finally realize that everything that had happened the past few weeks, had actually happened. She wasn't dreaming it, wasn't reading some story in a book that could end when she closed the pages. This was real, all of it. She was no longer wholly Ariann, a young human woman in world far away. She was Rianxan, Number Fourteen, The Spirited Reverie.

The tears quietly passed. Her sobs died down, and her hold on Zexion grew to one more of comfort that of need. He held her close, so much so that she was nearly sitting in his lap.

Ria coughed, and sniffed to clear her nose. She swallowed, and desperately tried to wipe the tears from her face. The area around her eyes was sore, and a headache was slowly building pressure behind her eyes. Zexion stopped her hand with one of his own, though, and caught her gaze. He gently wiped away another tear that found its way down her cheek, and hugged her close.

He didn't ask anymore questions, and Rianxan closed her eyes and rested fully against him.

She was not fully Ariann, but neither was she completely Rianxan, either. Both were a part of her, somehow. This was real, and she was here. And somehow, in this strange and new reality, she had found someone to hold her, something to hold onto while she waited for her heart. Someone she could wait _with_.

As she settled more into Zexion's warmth, she wondered if Nobodies were supposed to cry.

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**Holy COW!!! Oh my goodness, this chapter came out of absolutely NOWHERE! I know I promised a long, long chapter, but this one is just so different from the others...but if you guys still want me to do a longish chapter, let me know and I will gladly do it!**

**I wasn't sure about sticking dialogue at the end of the last section. It just, didn't seem right...I was imaging it happening in slow motion. Ria has never mentioned or thought at all about what happened since she came, and I thought it was about time for her to, well...go through what she did. With the crying and all. She's still human...well, not really, but she still has that SOMETHING in her that allows her to be the way she is.**

**I'm not sure what else to say. I hope that chapter was good. Review would be spectacular!!! I would really love to know how I did. Next chapter coming VERY soon, and the plot will continue. More Demyx-time, and possibly some mention of Axel and Roxas. Peace, guys!**


	18. Chapter 18

Finally, I got this chapter done! It's longish, and full of lots of cuteness and a little humor. Thank you everyone who has reviewed the last few chapters! Enjoy!

I own nothing but Rianxan.

* * *

**The Spirited Reverie**

**By**

**LadyDarkDreamer**

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**Chapter 18:**

Letting out a breath, Ria—still half-asleep—rolled over…and immediately found herself pressed against something very comfortable and warm.

Her eyes opened with a start, and she found herself looking at Zexion's sleeping face. He shifted slightly, and wrapped his arm around her lower back and pulled her closer. She found herself resting against him, her head under his chin. She tensed for a moment, but quickly relaxed as she remembered what had happened.

She had been crying the night before, and Zexion had been there. He had held her while she remembered, while she accepted…

Her thoughts dissolved as Zexion let out a content sigh, and pressed his lips to her forehead. "You still haven't given me back the cloak I let you borrow," he whispered, his voice heavy from just waking up. Ria found herself smiling as she closed her eyes, and she buried her face in his shoulder.

"You'll get it back when I feel like giving it to you," she replied, still smiling.

After she had calmed down, she had drifted off to sleep in Zexion's lap. He had gently woken her up shortly afterward, and she vaguely remembered him offering to let her sleep on his couch while the paint in her room dried. Ria had no idea how long it actually took paint to dry—and she was tired—so she had mumbled something resembling 'sure', and followed Zexion through a dark portal. Beyond that point, she couldn't remember much; what she did know was that she and Zexion had done nothing except sleep.

Shifting a bit, Ria made a mental note never to sleep in jeans again.

"And how long might that be?" he asked.

Opening her eyes, Ria shrugged. Zexion was sitting up a bit, watching her. She gave him a mischievous smirk, and he sighed and laid back down.

They were both quiet for a moment, and then Zexion spoke, "I have another question, if it's okay for me to ask?"

"Why wouldn't it be?" Ria asked, frowning a little.

"It…it's a fairly heavy question," he replied carefully.

Ria watched him for a moment, wondering what his question was. A serious look filled his pale features. Well, there was only one way to find out…

"What's the question?"

"I…well, what are we going to do?" he finally asked.

After a second, Ria slowly sat up, confused by his question. "I'm…not sure I understand," she offered, catching his gaze.

Zexion sat up as well, and bit his lip as though searching for better words. "Let me start differently," he said, "I apologize if I'm too direct or…seem indifferent. I'm just curious." When she nodded, he continued, "You like, or rather, feel something for me, right?"

"Yes."

"Could you…" he paused, looking a bit awkward, "Could you describe what you feel?"

At this question, Ria blushed a little. In the back of her mind, she realized she must look awful after just having woken up. Her cheeks where probably stained with tears, and her hair messy. She ran her fingers through her waves in an attempt to tame them, and fidgeted a little.

Realizing that Zexion was waiting for her to answer, her hand absentmindedly found its way to her neck. When her fingers didn't grasp the cool silver of her dragon charm, they moved to the black ribbon around her throat. As she fingered the star charm there, she wondered where her dragon necklace had gotten too.

"I like it when you cook," she finally began, "Because I know I can't cook to save my life. I think your eyes are beautiful, and I like your quiet personality. The day seems to be better when I get to see and talk with you, and I like to watch you walk—"

At this, her blush deepened more and she groaned inwardly. She hadn't meant to say that…

"Forget I said that!" she said quickly. "Already I'm looking like an idiot…"

She muttered for a few more seconds, and Zexion smiled and took her hands.

"You don't have to say anything else."

Ria was relieved by this, and immediately decided she needed to lighten the mood. This entire conversation was getting awkward, but…it was needed. She understood his need to ask the question, and ask her how she felt. She wanted to know how he was feeling, as well, but first…

Before Zexion could speak, she leaned forward and kissed him. Pushing him back against the pillows, she used her hands to pin his shoulders and kissed him slowly. His arm found its way around her waist, and another to her shoulder. When he attempted to which their positions though, Ria fought against it. He was taller than her, and most likely weighed more than she did, but she managed to keep him from flipping them. He let out a short sound of frustration, his fingers digging into her hip as the kiss ended.

"You're going to be a pain, aren't you?" he breathed.

Ria let him sit up, and gave him an innocent smile. "Maybe."

He let out a sigh, but she could tell it was a good sigh.

"So, since I had to answer the question, you must answer the same. How do you feel about me?"

Zexion made an unhappy noise at hearing this. Ria poked his ribs with a finger, and he gave her a look.

"I find you quite intriguing, Ria," he said finally, "You're pretty, and I enjoy spending time with you…"

He broke off, and seemed to be thinking. Ria reminded herself that she was dealing with a member of the male gender, and males weren't famous for deep romantic conversations. And actually, she realized, she didn't need to hear Zexion's explanation to know how he felt.

He opened his mouth to speak again, but she quickly kissed him. She kept it slow like before, until Zexion moved to take the dominant role. He seemed quite satisfied with this, and deepened the kiss as they settled on their sides. Her arms found their way around his neck, while he ran one hand along the edge of her shirt and the inch of skin she knew was showing.

They broke the kiss a moment later, and Ria settled against him. As she rested her head against his chest, part of her wished that she could listen to his heartbeat.

"I think I get your question now, Zexion," she eventually said. "But, what exactly are we supposed to do? Do Nobodies actually date, hold hands, and everything like that?"

"Well, I'm not sure," he replied after a moment. Ria looked up, and found him watching her. "I think we should do what we think is right. Though, I might have to protest against anything involving flowers and romantic comedies."

Ria laughed. "I agree; real dates would be a little odd for people like us."

After a quiet moment, Zexion sighed and picked up her hand, lacing his fingers through hers.

"You okay?"

In response, Zexion smiled and kissed her gently. "I'm fine, it's just all of this makes me wonder about how our hearts are missing. I don't mean to sound against what we have, but…should all of this _feel_ so real? We shouldn't be able to feel emotions, but I find myself enjoying everything so much, that it leaves me wanting more. It's strange…"

Half-smiling, Ria sat up a little to move Zexion's hair from over his face.

"You think about things a lot," she observed, running her fingers through his hair.

"I am I scientist," he replied, "I tend to watch and ask a lot of questions."

Ria looked at him in surprise. "You're a scientist? I didn't know that."

Zexion nodded, and moved to sit up. "I was a scientist when I was human, performing experiments with the Organization's original group."

"Original group?"

He gave her a curious look. "You really haven't heard the story of how the Organization was formed, have you?" he asked. Ria shook her head, and he continued, "I'll tell you sometime soon, but first, I think we should get breakfast."

At the mention of breakfast, Ria slid off the bed and stretched. As she did, she was fully aware of Zexion watching her, and stretched a little longer than she normally would have. She turned around to face him, and did her best to get the wrinkles out of her black-and-pink shirt. She brushed off her brown corduroy jeans, and looked around for where she had put her shoes.

While she put on her sneakers, Zexion got off the bed and went over to the dresser against the opposite wall. All the furniture was made of a dark wood, with silver accents here and there. The comforter and sheets on the bed were a dark blue, and the curtains over the window where a light gray.

Sitting Indian-style on the edge of the bed, Ria looked over at the dresser to find Zexion pulling a blue shirt from one of the drawers. Since he had watched her stretch, she felt it was only fair for her to watching him change his shirt. She caught a lovely glance of his bare back before he pulled the blue shirt on.

When he turned around, she found him smiling. "Shall we open a dark portal, or walk?"

Since she wasn't starving, Ria replied, "Walk, I think, if you're not too hungry?"

He shook his head, and Ria lead the way out of his room and into the hallway. Zexion closed the door behind him, and took Ria's hand as they walked.

"So, what is your theory on a Nobody feeling emotions?" she asked.

She glanced over at Zexion as they walked, and found his face thoughtful.

"Well, from what we've—Vexen, Lexaeus and I—been able to experiment with and discover, our theory is that we remember emotions. We experience a situation, and recall what it was like from our memories of being human."

Ria raised her eyebrows as he looked at her. "That simple?"

"What? Were you were expecting some long, drawn out hypothesis?"

"Something like that, I guess," Ria replied, shaking her head.

"Do you have a different theory?"

Ria blinked, remembering her soul theory. "I have an idea, but…"

Zexion squeezed her hand gently, and she looked at him. "Please?"

"Okay," she said, "I think, even if the heart helps us to feel, that the soul contains at least a small bit of emotion as well. We may have lost our hearts, but that bit allows us to feel at times…even if it's only a part of what we felt before."

She watched as Zexion seemed to contemplate this. They walked in silence for a few minutes, and then he suddenly stopped walking. Confused, she glanced over at him.

"Perhaps it's both," he said, catching her gaze, "The soul holds a piece of the emotions we once felt, and the mind remembers what it was like to feel. And when a situation arrives, we recollect memories of our human years and our soul brings them to life."

Her thoughts raced after hearing this, and most importantly, she found herself believing Zexion's idea. She started to speak, but found she couldn't find the words to say what she wanted to say. So instead, she kissed him again, and offered him a smile.

"Dude, Zexion, I thought you were immune to anything at all resembling pleasure."

Looking down the hall, Ria found herself staring at a tall man with an eye-patch. His hair was back and pulled back into a ponytail, with dark gray streaks running through it. If she remembered correctly, this Nobody was Xigbar: the man that liked to get drunk and shoot things. At least, that's the conclusion she'd drawn from hearing about him.

"Xigbar," Zexion said simply, if not a little defensively. He didn't seem to like this man that much.

Xigbar held up one finger and waved it, all the while tsking. "And you've chosen to go after our newest member, the most innocent of the Organization," he said teasingly. Then, he changed his tactic and started clapping, "I congratulate you, Zexy. It's about time."

Zexion flinched at the nickname, and stepped a little in front of Ria, still holding her hand. "Shouldn't you be off drinking, Xigbar?"

The man raised his hands in the air and smirked. "Hey, I'm trying to quit."

Rolling his eyes, Zexion didn't answer.

Meanwhile, Xigbar continued to smirk. "Well, I realize I've interrupted something, so I'll just move along," he said, chuckling as he walked. He winked at Ria as he passed with his only eye, and pointed a thumb at Zexion, "You should kiss him again; it seems to keep him in a good mood."

He sauntered down the hallway at a steady pace, and turned on his heel and shouted, "You know I'm going to tell the entire Castle, right?"

"And your point is?" Zexion yelled back.

Xigbar laughed loudly, and disappeared around a corner.

Once he was out of sight, Zexion sighed heavily and shook his head.

"Well, he's…weird," Ria concluded, leaning on one foot.

"That's an understatement," Zexion replied.

"Is he really going to tell everyone?" she asked as they started walking again.

"Maybe, maybe not. You can never tell with Xigbar. Do you mind if he does tell?"

Ria shook her head. "Not really. You?"

Zexion shrugged, so she wasn't quite sure if he was saying 'yes' or 'no'.

In an attempt to change the subject, she said, "So, we've agreed on no cheesy dates, movies, or white picket fences, correct?"

Halting, Zexion looked at her, eyebrows raised. "White picket fence?"

"It's a random saying from my world. People used to joke about the perfect life being a family with two kids, a dog, and a white picket fence outside the house. I always hated that image," she explained, rolling her eyes at the thought of how ridiculous some things from her own world were. She missed her old life, but…some things about it she would never miss.

When she turned her attention back to Zexion, he had his free hand on his chin, and he looked as though he were thinking.

"You know, I don't believe Nobodies can actually have children," he mused, his eyes seeming far away.

Ria let her hand fall from his, and put her hands on her hips. She gave him look, and when he caught her gaze, he suddenly realized the words he had spoken.

"I didn't mean…I—" he started.

Shaking her head and smiling, Ria raised her hand to stop him.

"Let's go get breakfast, Zex," she said, "I can call you 'Zex', right?"

He watched her for a moment, and had barely nodded before Ria grabbed his hand and led him down the hallway.

"If I remember, you mentioned something about liking to watch me walk?"

She laughed. "Save it, schemer. You can wait until after you make me food."

* * *

Woohoo! Chapter 18 is finished! I hope you guys enjoyed reading it. The next chapter will start up the plot again, I think. It's time for the other Organization members to make an appearance again. I really liked the scene with Xigbar; it just added some much needed humor, I think.

Reviews? Next chap. will be up soon.


	19. Chapter 19

This chapter is long, and is sort of a filler leading to the next big occurence in the plot. I hope it's okay!

Thanks for all the reviews, guys!

* * *

**The Spirited Reverie**

**By**

**LadyDarkDreamer**

* * *

**Chapter 19:**

Pushing off from the wall, Ria used the momentum to execute a flip. Halfway through the flip, one of her fans left her hand, taking out two of Demyx's water clones in the process. She landed on her feet among the largest grouping of liquid opponents, and immediately began slashing at them with the single fan she still held. The other fan appeared in her hand in seconds, and she dropped to one knee, swinging her arms out from her sides. Bringing them back, Ria crossed her arms gracefully in front of her, the fans framing her face as she stood.

She heard movement to her left, and glanced over to find a stray clone meandering its way over to her. Taking two quick steps in that direction, she flicked her fingers on the handle of the fan in her and focused a small amount of her power on the weapon. The fan immediately became one blade, and this she threw at the water clone. The figure disappeared, and Ria let out a breath and summoned her weapon back.

"That was good!" Demyx said enthusiastically, walking over and patting her shoulder. Nodding, Ria turned to face Demyx, leaning on her right left side.

Their training sessions took place at least once a day, whenever both Nobodies were free and the training room was empty. It usually wasn't occupied, but a couple times teacher and student had walked in to find Lexaeus or Saix practicing alone. Once, they had found Axel and Roxas sparring. Ria had instantly turned on her heel and left before the two could notice the intrusion. Training had taken place in a deserted corridor in one of the basements that day.

And Ria had had her first meeting with a very angry Vexen.

That had been about five days ago. All together, it had been about two weeks since Zexion and she had run into Xigbar on the way to breakfast. They had managed to spend time together during that period between missions, Xemnas's annoying meetings, and everything else. Zexion was currently off on a mission, and had been for the last four days. Something about exploring a new world…

Since her first mission in the Land of Dragons, Ria had only had three other missions. One had been to scout the streets of the city that surrounded the Castle, and the other to return to the Land of Dragons and document a new type of Heartless that had been spotted in the mountains. Both had been extremely boring, since she had gone alone. The third hadn't even _been_ an official mission, in her mind.

Upon giving Xemnas her latest report, Vexen had stormed into the room complaining about how half of his supplies were missing. Xemnas had calmly told the scientist to travel to Twilight Town and get more. Vexen had practically screamed that he was in the middle of an important experiment, and couldn't be bothered with such a trivial errand

So, Xemnas had sent Ria. He'd given her a large sum of munny, and directions to a potion shop in one of the alleys of the town. It had been unexciting, but at least she'd gotten to explore the place—and actually wear normal clothes! That had been a plus.

Demyx moved across the room, tossing her a bottle of some sort of vitamin water. As she caught the bottle, he began to chat about possibly flooding the Castle again. She only half-listened though, her thoughts on the practice fight.

"Hey, Demyx?" she finally said.

"Yeah?"

Disappearing her weapons, Ria opened the bottle and took a sip of the water. Tasting something that resembled grape, she swallowed and turned to the musician.

"I'm not sure, but…I think maybe I need to start practicing with enemies that will actually fight back," she said carefully, watching his face to be sure she wasn't hurting his feeling. "You've been doing a great job training me and all, but I haven't been in many battles with Heartless, so...how can we really tell how my skills are coming along?"

Instead of looking upset with her inquiry, Demyx nodded and leaned his head against his sitar.

"That is the next logical step," he said, grinning a little, "Besides, Xemnas would probably be upset if we didn't up your training." Then, he snapped his fingers and four tall Nobodies appeared on either side of him.

Sipping a little more of the flavored water, Ria raised her eyebrows.

"These are the lesser Nobodies I can summon. They're called Dancers."

Nodding, Ria put the cap tightly on the water bottle and threw it to Demyx. He caught it with one hand, and set it by the wall.

"You don't mind if I kill the Dancers?"

Demyx shrugged. "You need the practice, and there are plenty more Nobodies around to take their place."

Taking two steps back, Ria summoned her weapons and took her stance.

"Alright."

Demyx smiled, and whispered something to the Nobodies as he pointed at Ria. Almost immediately, the Dancers began to slide towards her.

Taking the offensive, she ran to meet the group of Nobodies, keeping her attacks even and smooth. She spun, slashing with her fans at the nearest attacker. She sliced to her far left, and was a little taken aback when the Dancer evaded her attack. It was only then she noticed something glowing on the edge of her vision. As she turned to meet the approaching Dancer, the thing grabbed her arm and dragged her across the floor.

Ria struggled against the Nobody's powerful grip, and lost her balance and the thing heaved her into the air. Only a quick twist saved her from crashing into the floor, but she landed hard and uneasy on her feet. Her foot slipped, and her right knee hit the marble hard a moment later. She caught herself with her hands, and hurriedly jumped to her feet as the Dancers advanced again. Having learned her lesson before, she opted not to charge into the group. Instead, she spun on the outskirts, slashing at the back of one Dancer and the stomach of another.

Using her element, she split the blades of one fan and used them to guard her back as she dispatched of one Dancer. Two more entered her field of vision, gliding fast towards her, so she dropped to her knees. Tossing her other fan in the air, she separated the blades and stood as they sailed over her head and attacked the Nobodies. One faded quickly, and Ria summoned her fans back, whole, to her hands.

She blocked a kick from the Dancer, and used her magic to push it back as another one, glowing, came near. This time, she was prepared as she sidestepped the thing's grasp and planted the sharp edges of her fan in its back. It faded, leaving her with the Dancer she'd pushed away. The Nobody circled around her for a moment, stopped, and then disappeared.

Confused, Ria tightened her grip on her weapons and took a step back. Hearing movement behind, she reacted before thinking, and threw one fan with a turn of her heel.

And just as quickly, she snapped her hand closed and the fan froze in the air, the edge several inches from Xemnas's chest.

Cursing, Ria disappeared both fans. "I'm so sorry, Superior," she said, her words coming fast, "I—"

Xemnas silenced her with the wave of a hand. Stepping forward slowly, he circled her for a minute. "You saw the Nobody disappear and assumed that it was behind you. In the case of a battle, it is best to act when one needs too, and think later; otherwise, one could end up dead. You are forgiven Number Fourteen, this time," he said. When he met her gaze, she suppressed a shiver. His amber eyes unnerved her.

"Thank you, Superior," she replied. Xemnas remained quiet for the next few seconds, before finally turning to Demyx. It was only then that Ria noticed Larxene was standing near the sitar player. When had she arrived?

"I see Rianxan has been making progress with her training, Number Nine."

"Uh, yeah," Demyx responded, scratching his head. "She's been doing great. I've just started her with opponents that will fight back."

As Ria watched, Xemnas gave Demyx a hard look. "Shouldn't she have been training as such a few weeks ago?"

When Demyx didn't reply quickly, Ria walked over and stood a little away from the two. "I didn't want to rush into anything," she offered, "I wanted to make sure I had my reflexes and powers well under control."

Xemnas glanced sideways at her. "But you have fought Heartless before today, correct?"

"Yes, but I felt like I needed a little more practice," she said. Swallowing, Ria searching Xemnas's face for any hints to his mood, but found none.

Finally, the man nodded, and turned his back to them.

"You cannot train forever, Rianxan," he instructed, "Eventually you must be ready, and sooner would be better. This Organization has things that need to be done, missions and goals that we are striving for. We need every member to be ready and prepared for anything."

As he looked over his shoulder at her, she shifted.

"From the display of skill I saw during your confrontation with the Dancers," he continued, "I believe you are capable of taking care of yourself. You, after all, have already been on three missions alone, and returned unscathed." He turned back to face the three, and Ria glanced over to find Demyx fidgeting, and Larxene preoccupied with the ceiling. "Therefore, I am restricting your training to one more week. The task of being your teacher will be passed to Larxene, and both of you will meet here each day. At the end of the week, your training will be finished."

With that, Xemnas opened a dark portal and disappeared. Ria relaxed once he was gone, and turned to look full at Demyx and Larxene.

"Well, that was unexpected," she said.

"Tell me about it," Demyx muttered. Looking from Ria to Larxene, he seemed hesitant to say anything more. "Well, I guess I should, you know, get going if Larxene here is going to take over your training." His sitar disappeared, and he adjusted his cloak a bit before walking towards the door.

Ria glanced at Larxene, and felt a little uneasy about the woman training her. She had only spoken to Larxene a few times since first meeting her, and still didn't know her that well.

She also felt bad for Demyx. In her opinion, he had been a good teacher, and had become a great friend. So, not wanting to just let him leave, she hurried after him and hugged him before he could leave.

He seemed surprised by the embrace, but returned it. When Ria pulled away, she found him giving her a curious look.

"What was that for?" he asked, seeming amused.

"Do I have to have a reason to hug one of my friends?" she replied, smiling.

He shrugged. "I guess not; I just wasn't expecting it."

Patting his shoulder, Ria's smile widened.

"Are you two finished?" Larxene asked, her voice impatient.

Demyx looked over his shoulder at the woman, and turned about to Ria.

"She never hugs anyone," he said, pointing at Larxene with a finger. Ria did her best to suppress a laugh, and Demyx grinned.

_**x-x-x-x-x-x-x**_

An hour later, Ria was completely convinced that Larxene was, in fact, insane.

Jumping back, she barely dodged two of Larxene's knives, only to fall backward as a lightning bolt caught her off guard.

Cursing, Ria got to her feet and avoided another barrage of knives. She performed a cartwheel as Larxene raised her arms and directed another charge of electricity her way.

"Pick up the attack, Number Fourteen! You can't remain defensive the entire battle," the woman shouted.

Ria was quickly growing tired of training with Larxene. The Nobody was relentless and aggressive when it came to her attacks. She had already put Ria on the ground three times, and Ria was determined to beat her. She was becoming exhausted from constantly moving and sneaking in slashes when she could, though.

Moving closer, Ria sidestepped a slash from Larxene's knives and parried with one of her own. In truth, the way they fought was similar. Larxene held her thin knives between her fingers and used them like claws when attacking. They both threw their blades often as well.

Ria flinched as Larxene cut her arm, leaving three shallow wounds just below her right shoulder. Ria stepped back as Larxene invaded her space, and threw her power into a shield as a last resort. The knives bounced off the shield, and Ria took the opportunity to focus the last of her magic on freezing Larxene in her tracks. Larxene stopped in mid-step in a flicker of gold light, and Ria—knowing the trick would only last seconds—swept Larxene's feet out from under her and held one of her fans to the woman's throat.

Then, quite to Ria's surprise, Larxene blinked and began laughing.

Pushing Ria's fan away, Larxene stood up, still laughing. "That was a good move," she said, "Took you long enough to stop me, though."

Breathing hard, Ria only nodded.

"Alright, that's enough training for today. I've got people to terrorize," Larxene continued. She turned towards the door, and stopped. "Meet here tomorrow around nine in the morning. We'll practice until lunch."

After Larxene disappeared into the hallway, Ria sighed and let her weapons vanish.

If the rest of the week was going to be exactly like today, she was really going to hate Larxene…and Xemnas.

Walking towards the door, Ria stretched her arms a little as she walked, and grit her teeth as her left shoulder protested. Coming to the conclusion that she must have pulled something, she remembered the cuts on her right arm. Looking at them, she found the fabric of her black shirt was torn as well. A few more cuts decorated her lower back, hurting when her shirt moved over them.

"And I don't even have enough magic left to cast a Cure spell," she muttered. While summoning her weapons and speaking with her thoughts came naturally, using telekinesis to propel her weapons and movements slowly used up magic power. Actions such as shielding and stopping an attacker took up a large chunk of that as well. Right now, she knew she was completely out of magic, and it would probably take a while for the energy to resplenish itself.

She knew for a fact she had no ethers or potions in her own room, but she knew Zexion did. Before leaving, he had told Ria she could enter his rooms if she wanted to, so she had permission. Still, she felt reluctant to walk around another person's living space without them there.

So, despite having Zexion's consent, she avoided his empty suite and headed for her own. She would shower, put on some clean clothes, and attempt to put together something for dinner.

Absorbed in her own thoughts, Ria failed to realize there was someone in front of her, and ran straight into the person.

Surprised, Ria fell back and landed on her rear on the floor. Looking up, she found herself looking at a face with bright sapphire eyes and unruly blond hair.

"Sorry!" she said quickly, scrambling to stand. She recognized the young man as Roxas, the boy that Axel spent most of his time with.

At the thought of Axel, Ria looked around to see where he was. But instead of seeing the redhead, she found a hand offered to her.

"Axel's not here, it that's who you're looking for."

She gave Roxas a confused look, but took the hand. Roxas helped her to her feet, and Ria brushed off her jeans.

"I'm so sorry about running into you, Roxas," she repeated, "I wasn't paying attention."

Roxas shook his head. "It's okay; you're Ria, right?"

"Um, yeah," she replied, not knowing what else to say. She frowned, and watched Roxas for a few moments. Since he hung out with Axel all the time, she had expected him to challenge her to a fight, or threaten her or something. Instead, he seemed to be making an attempt at normal conversation.

"Just get back from training?" he asked.

The question surprised her. "What?"

He looked at her arm, and pointed to the cuts. "Larxene, right?"

"Yeah," she finally said, "How'd you guess?"

Roxas let out a breath. "I trained with her one time, on a bet with Luxord. Let's just say it was not a fun experience."

Despite herself, Ria smiled a little. "Did you win the bet?"

When he quirked an eyebrow, she almost laughed. "I'd rather not say."

Now she did laugh, and actually followed beside Roxas as he began to walk.

"Luxord is the guy always carrying the cards, right?"

"Yeah," Roxas replied. "Never play a game with him, ever. He cheats."

"I'll keep that in mind," she said, "So, what brings you to, well…wandering the corridors?"

Roxas gave her a look at the wording of her question. "Boredom. Axel's on a mission to explore some new world, and I'm not sure where Demyx is."

Axel was exploring a new world? Ria was surprised by this, and remembered what Zexion had said before he left: _"I've got to explore a new world that Xemnas found about a week ago. I don't know how long I'll be gone, but I do know it's _not_ going to be a pleasant time."_ He had sounded somewhat angry when he said it. Could Xemnas have somehow assigned Zexion and Axel to the same mission, knowing that they didn't work well together?

"He didn't sound happy about it, either," Roxas continued, "Said something about Xemnas being an idiot for pairing him with Zexion. Well, he used different words, but none that I feel like repeating."

"So, Zexion and Axel _are_ on a mission together," Ria said before she could stop herself.

Roxas looked at her. "You didn't know? I would have thought you did, since you and Zexion are, well…"

Ria halted, and rested her hands on her hips. "We're what?"

Holding up a palm in defense, Roxas said, "Don't hurt me, okay? Xigbar just ran into the lounge one day, and started talking about how Zexion had a love-life now, and everyone should spread the word. Larxene, Lexaeus and I were there, and we weren't sure whether to believe him or not. It is Xigbar, you know."

"Okay."

"Anyway," he continued, "Larxene pinned him to the wall with her knives and questioned him until he started laughing. He swore he wasn't lying, and that he saw you and Zexion in the hallway together. We just assumed he was telling the truth, since Larxene nearly tortured him on the spot."

Despite herself, Ria smiled as she imagined the situation.

Finally, she said, "Well, let's hope Axel and Zexion don't kill each other."

Roxas only nodded, and they let the subject die.

"Hey Roxas, there you are!" a familiar voice called. Looking up, Ria found Demyx running down the corridor toward them. "Hey, Ria!"

She waved as Demyx stopped in front of them.

"What are you guys up to?"

Ria shrugged, and Roxas said, "Not much."

"Any chance you two want to join me for dinner?"

"Who's cooking?" Ria asked.

"Well, I was kind of hoping we could split the job," Demyx admitted, "Between the three of us, we should be able to manage something decent."

After a moment, Roxas nodded.

"Alright."

* * *

Well, I will admit I'm not very pleased with what I've written this chapter. :P If you guys like it, I'm glad; but if not, I apologize. The next few will be much better, I promise! 

Reviews?


	20. Chapter 20

Oh my goodness...Zexion's weapon is a…book? Pardon me, but what the HELL?! That is so weird! Thanks to kingdomheartser for sending me the link to the new final mix scans! I also found a video with promotional stuff for final mix…sort of. The link in on my profile if you want to check it out.

I had THE strangest dream three days ago. My best friend and I were spending some time at a beach house with Axel, Zexion, Roxas, and a few other people. Giles (from Buffy the Vampire Slayer, YAY British!) was there also, to watch us, I guess—he was a 'starving' musician of sorts, and was usually busy writing songs and playing his guitar. Axel was lazy and slept all the time, and Zexion was Zexion. Namine was there, and finally everyone decided to spend the afternoon/evening on the beach. We all went, and Namine suggest Zexion and I go for a walk, so we did.

I asked Zexion about his hair, and said it was cool, and then Axel suddenly woke up and shouted, "Just kiss her, Zexion!" So he did. It was a fun dream, but strange. It was fun to see the guys in swim trunks, though…yes, I am such a fangirl. Bite me.

I own nothing except Ria/Ariann.

* * *

**The Spirited Reverie**

**By**

**LadyDarkDreamer**

* * *

**Chapter 20:**

Five days later, Ria blocked an attack from Larxene with one of her open fans. She pushed the woman back, and tried to ignore the eyes she knew were watching her. The man named Luxord had started coming to watch them train. Demyx and Xigbar were also watching today, and the numerous gazes made her feel a little uneasy. Part of her was still wondering why they were there, and if this was some sort of entertainment to chase boredom away.

Eluding another attack, Ria moving swiftly and slashed at Larxene's back, cutting through the cloth of her black cloak and leaving a shallow wound. Since their first training session, Ria had gotten used to Larxene's style of fighting. Right now, they were pretty even, dodging each other's attacks and each leaving the other with a few cuts by the end of the session.

Ria had quickly learned to wear clothes she didn't particularly like while training, seeing as they tended to be ruined by the time training stopped.

Larxene turned quickly, a look of surprise and anger on her fine features. She didn't seem particularly pleased about one of her cloaks being ruined. Ria would have smiled if she hadn't been fighting for breath. She had noticed lately that none of her wounds ever bled, but they took a while to heal

That moment of pause between the two ended as Larxene took the offensive. Ria struggled to block her attacks, stepping back several times and keeping her balance the best she could. With all her focus on defense, she couldn't concentrate to wrap her power around Larxene and halt her progress.

She blocked against, ignoring the scrap of the knife-tips on the metal of her fans, and swept her other fan—closed in a single blade—upward. Larxene avoid the slash and cast a lightning spell. The edge of it caught Ria as she rolled past Larxene's leg, and she quickly stood and pressed the open fan against the taller woman's back. The other fan snaked it's way over the blond's shoulder, and she froze.

"Nicely done, Ria," Larxene said, "The score is three to three today, so we're even."

Ria let her arms drop to her sides, and the fans disappeared. She and Larxene shook hands, and Ria offered her a small smile. The woman had finally started using her nickname, instead of calling her 'Number Fourteen' all the time.

As for the score, Ria was happy about it. They had started keeping track of who won each fight, as a way to judge Ria's abilities.

Glancing over to where the boys stood against the wall, Ria found Xigbar grinning. He looked satisfied, as Luxord scowled and munny exchanged hands.

"You guys were betting on us?" she called, a little breathily.

Demyx laughed, and walked over. "Of course they were," he said cheerfully, "And against all odds, Xigbar won."

"You're damn right I did!" the man announced, strutting over as Larxene crossed her arms. "I knew betting on the newbie would pay off! Good job, girl."

He patted Ria on the back, a little hard in her opinion, and laughed.

"What was the bet?" she asked, looking from Xigbar to Luxord.

"Luxord bet 500 munny that Larxene would win the last fight," Demyx explained, "And Xigbar raised it to 1000, saying you would."

Luxord made an unhappy sound, and stood a little away from everyone.

"And I didn't even have that kind of the munny!" Xigbar admitted, grinning again.

Making a 'hmph' noise, Luxord said, "Bloody youngster," and heading for the door.

"Hey, I outrank you!" Xigbar yelled as Luxord disappeared. Patting Ria on the shoulder again, he chased after the gambler.

"Okay…" Ria let the comment die, shaking her head. She then turned to look at Demyx and Larxene.

Larxene stood there for a few seconds, then brushed the sleeves of her cloaks off and walked towards the door.

"If Luxord comes again tomorrow," she said as she walked, "I'm kicking his ass."

A moment later, she was gone, and Ria gave Demyx a questioning look. "What's wrong with her?"

The musician shrugged. "Luxord's had a thing for her the last couple months. He's very subtle about, but Larxene isn't stupid," he said. "She may be sadistic, but she's smart. She's been threatening to explode on him for a while. It could end very badly, or be really hilarious."

Ria shook her head. Following the example of everyone who had been in the room, she turned and heading for the door. Demyx jogged to catch up with her, and put a hand on her shoulder.

"What are you up to now?" he asked as they walked.

"Nothing exciting," she replied, "I'm just going to shower, change, and get some food. The usual."

"That's it? It's pretty boring," he said. She glanced over at him, and he laughed. "Come on, you've been bored all week; admit it. I know! You and Roxas and I can put on some normal clothes and sneak out of the Castle for a few hours. We'll go to Twilight Town and get some food, listen to some music and dance a little."

At this, Ria gave him a look. "Does Roxas dance?" she asked.

Demyx's laughter rang through the hallway, and Ria stopped walking and crossed her arms.

"That's a good question," he said, "I'm actually not sure."

Ria couldn't help but smile, and finally shook her head. "Not tonight, Demyx," she finally answered, "I'm tired, and I really want to get some sleep soon."

"Aww, alright. Are you sure?"

"Sorry," she said, giving him a apologetic look. If she hadn't needed to bandage the new scratches and wasn't so exhausted from training, she would have agreed to go. Things had been very quiet around the Castle, with Zexion gone. She missed him, and kept hoping that his mission with Axel would be over soon.

But Demyx didn't seem upset by her decision. He put a hand on her shoulder and nodded, before heading off down the hallway in the opposite direction.

Walking down the quiet corridor again, Ria let out a soft sigh and headed for where she knew her room was. By now, she knew the hallways of the Castle fairly well, and didn't often get lost if she paid attention to where she was going. She would have opened a dark portal, but walking helped her to clear her mind.

Only one more day of training, one more day with a crazed Larxene. It would be a good day.

Pushing the thought from her mind, she did her best to ignore her clothes moving over the several new shallow wounds she had. There was a series of three on her right arm, one on the left side of her stomach, another trio just above her left knee. Once she got to her room, she would bandage them up and use a potion.

She smiled. She had actually raided Vexen's lab the other day, when the man had been out. She now had a good supply of potions, ethers, and a few elixirs.

"Ria!"

Hearing her name, Ria turned, and found Zexion standing several yards away.

She smiled, and before she could stop herself, Ria walked over quickly and threw her arms around him.

He returned the embrace, and when she finally took a step back, he said, "It's good to see you, too."

"When did you get back?" she asked, her voice content. Zexion was still dressed in his Organization uniform—well, he usually was, but he had started leaving the cloak and gloves off before he had left.

"Just an hour ago," he said, looking her over, "Xemnas wanted my report as soon as possible, so I wrote it during the actual mission. I gave it to him when I got back."

Ria nodded. "How did the mission go? Did you and Axel have any trouble?"

Zexion looked surprised at hearing this. "I didn't tell you I was on the mission with Axel."

"Oh," she said quickly, "I ran into Roxas a few days ago, and he mentioned something about it."

She searched his face, but didn't catch his reaction. Finally, he said, "The mission went fairly well, no incredible discoveries or anything like that. There were a few new Heartless, and we mapped the area and observed the residents. We split the work and spoke only when we needed to, so it wasn't too bad."

"Does documenting a new world usually take a long time?"

"It was a big world," Zexion replied, looking a little amused. Then his eyes fell to her right arm and her stomach, and the tears in her clothing and cuts there. His grip on her tightened, and he quickly looked up at her. "Are you okay?" he demanded, his voice urgent.

Ria was taken aback by his sudden change of mood. "Zexion, I'm fine," she explained quickly, "I just got out of training with Larxene, and—"

"You were training with Larxene? I thought Demyx was training you," he replied, still looking worried.

Ria then remembered Zexion had only gotten back recently, and didn't know what had happened in the last week.

"He was, but Xemnas interrupted one of our sessions and made Larxene my teacher. I'm supposed to train with her for a week, and then I'm done," she continued. "Tomorrow is my last day, thankfully."

Zexion nodded, but still looked worried. He ran a thumb over the cuts on her arm carefully.

"Larxene's knives did this?"

"Yeah," Ria said, fidgeting a little, "I'm really okay, Zex, I promise. Larxene is just really…well, crazy is the only word I can think of. She doesn't give up and doesn't leave any room for mistakes. I've given her a few cuts of her own, though."

He half-smiled at this.

"So, what are you up to?" she asked.

"I was going to shower and change, but—"

Ria nodded, and said, "I was going to do the same. If you want to, we can meet after and eat dinner or something."

Zexion seemed to consider this for a moment, and finally nodded. When he didn't speak, she hugged him again.

"I missed you."

He smiled then. "I missed you to."

_**x-x-x-x-x-x-x**_

As she finished wrapping the gauze around her arm—which was quite hard to do one-handed—Ria secured it with a piece of medical tape. Tossing everything back into a drawer, she closed it and look at her reflection in the mirror. The gauze and bandages she put on the wounds didn't actually serve any purpose, other than keeping her clothes from rubbing against them.

She had showered, gotten dressed, and dried her hair already. She was wearing dark blue jeans, a burgundy tank top, and a pair of black boots. Grabbing a long-sleeved, nearly see-through white sweater folded on the counter, she opened the bathroom door and left. As she walking through her bedroom and into the living room, she pulled the sweater over her head.

Zexion was already there, gazing out the window at the stars and sky. As Ria straightened the sweater, he looked over and opened a dark portal.

"You're not going to make me cook after I've been gone a week, are you?" Zexion asked as they entered the kitchen. The room was empty, save for Lexaeus sitting at the table, a plate half-empty before him. He glanced up at them, and nodded in greeting.

"Would I do that?" Ria asked, giving him an innocent smile.

Walking over the fridge, she opened it and brought out several white cartons with red symbols stamped on their sides. Zexion came to stand beside her as she shut the door, and looked at the black letters written on the top: _"This is mine. If anyone touches it, they will suffer horribly." _Saix's signature was scrolled underneath the message.

As Ria opened the cartons, Zexion gave her a questioning look.

"Should we really be eating this?" he asked.

Ria smiled. "Trust me, it's alright. Demyx went to Twilight Town yesterday, and came back with this. It's actually pretty good stuff; we just stuck Saix's name on it because we knew everyone would leave it alone if we did."

"Clever."

"You don't mind eating this, do you? I would try to cook something, but…"

"You don't want to set the kitchen on fire again?" Lexaeus suddenly asked.

Looking over her shoulder in surprise, she blushed a little and shrugged.

"You _what_?" Zexion asked, immediately interested. Looking from Lexaeus to Ria, he found Ria's blush deepen.

"Demyx, Roxas and she attempted to cook fried rice yesterday, and managed to set everything on fire," Lexaeus explained. It was strange to hear him speaking, only because she rarely heard the man say anything. "That's why Demyx went for take out."

Ria turned back to the food, trying to ignore the conversation as she grabbed two plates from a nearby cabinet. She started spooning rice and sesame chicken onto them, and jumped when she felt an arm around her waist. Looking over, she found Zexion smiling.

"I do like Chinese food," he said, and Ria let out a breath.

After heating everything in the microwave, Ria fixed herself a cup of chamomile tea and sat across from Lexaeus. Zexion settled at one end of the table between the two, and he and Lexaeus began a discussion on one of Lexaeus's experiments. Ria enjoyed her food, and listened closely as the two men talked about weapons. When she asked what exactly Lexaeus was experimenting with, he explained about how each Organization member could summon a unique weapon. He was testing how the weapons manifested, and if perhaps the summoning process could be stopped.

Zexion then put in how his element allowed him to use any weapon of his choosing, and wondered if Lexaeus wanted to test it as well. When the man agreed, they began discussing the details of the experiment. Ria continued eating her food, slightly lost as the talk continued. She swallowed some of her tea, and looked from Lexaeus to Zexion. They seemed to be almost more than colleagues…friends, maybe?

"Rianxan, would you perhaps consider helping with my experiment?"

Returning from her thoughts, Ria looked at Lexaeus in surprise. "I'm sorry," she admitted, "What did you say?"

"I was wondering if you would help with my experiment, when you're free? Most of the other members are busy or too childish."

"Sure, I'd love to help," Ria replied. She hadn't yet seen much of the basements, aside from Vexen's lab. "When do you want me to—"

"Finally, some members with patience and brains," a low voice interrupted. Turning, Ria found Saix standing in the doorway.

"What do you want, Saix?" Zexion asked bitterly.

The blue-haired man took a single step into the kitchen, and fixed his yellow eyes on the group. "One of the lesser Nobodies came to the Superior just minutes ago, with news of something powerful it detected in Twilight Town. He and Vexen are already on their way there, but Superior ordered me to find a few more of us to come. So, Numbers Five and Six, let's go."

"Who's going to keep the Castle from falling apart while we're gone?" Zexion asked as he and Lexaeus stood.

"Xigbar," Saix answered simply.

"What is so important that five of us are needed for a search?" Lexaeus questioned.

"I am not sure, but Superior will not wait for long," he replied, and glanced over at Ria. "Number Fourteen, fetch your cloak and come as well. Superior said to send anyone who had enough sense to be responsible."

Very surprised at this order, Ria quickly stood and glanced over at Zexion. The schemer looked from her to Lexaeus, and back to Saix. "We'll meet you at the edge of the city, and go from there," he said, and opened a portal. Unsure of what exactly she should do, Ria only spared a quick look at Saix before opening her own portal. She moved fast, grabbing a cloak from her closet, zipping it up, and pulling the hood over her head.

What exactly had a lesser Nobody had found in Twilight Town? What could cause such a commotion that six of them were needed?

Ria didn't know, but she wanted to find out.

* * *

Long, I know, but the plot finally continues! We're moving forward! Onward! 

I'll calm down now, sorry. :P Thank you everyone who reviewed the last chapter! Sorry about the long author's note at the beginning; my Muses need to stop sending me weird dreams...anybody else have strange Muses?? Advice?

Reviews? Thanks, guys. :)


	21. Chapter 21

Thanks for all the reviews of the last chapter, guys! I loved reading them all! Everyone's been waiting to see what will happen, so without furthur ado (anyone seen the movie "Much Ado About Nothing"?? great comedy...and I've had too much sugar) here it is!

I own nothing but Ria.

* * *

**The Spirited Reverie**

**By**

**LadyDarkDreamer**

* * *

**Chapter 21:**

Walking quietly down one of the many alleyways of Twilight Town, Ria's eyes searched for…_something. _Glancing to her right, she shifted a little with uneasy and turned her attention back to searching. Xemnas was standing there, only four feet away. Saix and Lexaeus were situated on two rooftops nearby, and Vexen and Zexion were searching elsewhere

She still didn't know _what _they were looking for. Xemnas had only told them that what they were looking for "had power, so exercise caution."

"How is your training progressing, Number Fourteen?"

Her head jerked in Xemnas's direction at the unexpected question. She found him watching her with eerie amber eyes, so she replied in a low voice, "It's going well, Superior."

She thought she saw Xemnas nod in the darkness, but she couldn't be sure. "Good," he continued, "I will have another mission for you after your training is finished, perhaps even a test of your strength."

Ria tried to suppress a shudder, and took a slow step away, squinting down the alley for anything unusual. Finding nothing, she adjusted her cloak and looked up at the buildings. She caught a glimpse of Saix's blue hair as his disappeared.

"I've heard a few curious rumors of late, from the lesser Nobodies," he said. Ria glanced at Xemnas over her shoulder, wondering why he was so talkative. "A few of them seemed to involve you, Rianxan."

Rumors? What rumors could possibly involve her?

For some reason, Ria preferred that Xemnas not use her name. She was perfectly fine with him calling her 'Number Fourteen'.

"Rumors, Superior?" she finally asked, turning to face him fully.

He nodded. "The lesser Nobodies are whispering about a new theory, something about the soul being able to feel. And they are saying that it is your creation. Would you care to tell me your theory?"

For some reason, Ria felt very near sick at the thought of telling Xemnas her theory, or even the theory she and Zexion and thought of together. Had he really heard something from the Dusks, or has someone been eavesdropping on her and Zex? She still had trouble understand the Nobodies' whispers, so she had no idea if they listened to what their leaders were saying.

This also brought up the question: did Xemnas know about her and Zexion? If so, what were his thoughts on it?

Personally, she didn't give a damn what Xemnas thought. But if it got Zexion into trouble, that wasn't good…

"Um, well," she finally said, "I just thought, maybe the heart doesn't solely have a hold on emotions. Maybe the soul has a bit of emotion as well, and that allows us to feel a tiny piece of what we once did." She stuck with her own, basic theory. No need to continue on with what Zexion had added on the matter.

Xemnas seemed to silently consider this for a moment, but then shook his head. Making a dismissive gesture with his hand, he walked over to stand beside Ria.

"We are Nobodies, Rianxan, just empty shells. The heart holds emotions, the soul defines who we are, and the body is a vessel for both," he said, his voice sounding very much like that of a correcting teacher. "We cannot feel."

Despite the fact he was standing so close, Ria couldn't stop herself from scowling. She was tired of hearing that mantra over and over again.

As Xemnas starting walking away, Ria suddenly remembered a past conversation she had had with Zexion. He had said he was a scientist, and had mentioned the original group that made of the Organization. Since Xemnas was Number One, surely he had been part of that group?

Taking a wild chance, she stood a little taller and asked, "Were you once a scientist, Superior?"

This caused Xemnas to stop and look over his shoulder. He contemplated her for a quiet moment, then said, "I was, years ago."

"Then surely you would agree, as a scientist, that one must consider several possible theories to a single question? Otherwise one would limit their point of view," she continued, wording her sentences carefully. She would have added, _"and seem ignorant",_ to the end of that, if she wasn't already afraid of sparking Xemnas's anger…if he was even capable of feeling anger. If the man was so convinced he couldn't feel, what was left?

He turned fully, and set his eyes on her. She kept her stance solid, and waited for his reply.

Xemnas just watched her though, both of them draped in shadow from the buildings. Above them, the sky was full of stars, making the shadows seem darker than they were.

A moment later, Saix suddenly appeared out of a dark portal, causing Ria to jump.

"Something was spotted on the Tram Common," Saix explained quickly, pointing in the direction of the district.

Xemnas looked at Ria for a moment longer, but turned his attention to Saix. "Number Fourteen, send a message to the other three. Tell Vexen and Lexaeus to watch the streets leading to Station Heights, and Zexion the Sandlot. Saix, did you get a look at what it was?"

"No, Superior," Saix replied. "Lexaeus was the one to spot it, and he said he only saw a flash of white."

"Well, the lesser Nobodies certainly thought this was important, so we much capture it. Saix, return to the Common and follow it," Xemnas said. He glanced to Ria, and added, "Tell them to also call the Dusks for assistance, if they need to. We'll try and drive the thing into the back alley."

Ria nodded, and concentrated on directing her thoughts to Vexen, Lexaeus and Zexion. _Alright boys_, she thought, _Zexion, you're needed to watch the Sandlot. Vexen and Lexaeus, guard Station Heights and keep the target from reaching Station Plaza. Superior said we'll try and herd what we're looking for into the back alley, and to use the lesser Nobodies if you need too. Saix will follow the target from the Tram Common._

Turning her attention to Xemnas and Saix, she nodded again to show she had delivered the orders. Saix disappeared into another dark portal, leaving her with Xemnas.

"Take Saix's position on the roof, Number Fourteen," Xemnas instructed before leaving.

Sighing heavily, Ria opened a quick portal and appeared on top of the nearest building. Moving fast, she jumped from roof to roof, until she could finally see the Tram Common below. She spotted Saix moving away from the entrance to the woods, and searching the Common for any other signs of movement. Finding none, she walked to the left and glanced toward Station Heights, finding Vexen and Lexaeus standing there.

She focused her attention on the Common again, and nearly jumped when she spotted something pale and white moving carefully towards the woods. She couldn't be sure, but it looked like a small person…

_Saix, the woods! _she thought urgently. The berserker turned on his heel and snapped his fingers—Ria guessed—and several Dusks appeared and blocked the entrance. The figure halted and glanced at Saix before taking off at a run between two of the buildings.

Unable to see, Ria portaled to a tall building in the middle of the Common, skirting one of the pyramid skylights on the roof and she gazed over the edge. The figure ran past the building, heading for Station Heights. From her position, Ria could make out more of the figure.

It was a girl, several years younger than herself. Ria had been eighteen when she had been attacked by the Heartless, and this girl looked about fourteen or fifteen. Her only clothing seemed to be a simple white dress and blue sandals.

_She's coming towards Station Heights, everyone!_

As Ria completed the thought, she understood why Saix has wanted her to come. Though she couldn't hear anyone's replying thoughts, she could use her ability to keep everyone updating on what was going on. It lowered the chance for surprises.

She briefly spotted Saix running in that direction, so she portaled to a rooftop overlooking Vexen. Searching for the girl, she only found empty streets.

Where had she gone?

Spotting Ria on the edge of the roof, Vexen voiced that same question. Looking down at him, Ria only shrugged.

_I've no idea. She was there a moment ago._

She heard Vexen curse rather loudly, and shook her head.

Then a portal opened beside her, once again surprising her. Standing near the edge of the roof, Ria lost her footing and felt herself falling. She let out a cry, but a hand quickly grabbed hers and pulled her back onto the roof.

"Thanks," she whispered, catching her breath.

"You're welcome," a familiar voice, Zexion's, said, "Tell Vexen and Lexaeus we need to move. Saix spotted the girl taking the Underground Concourse a minute ago, so we have to hurry."

Ria passed on the message, and followed Zexion, slightly confused, and he pulled her through a dark portal. They appeared in a grassy area, with a waterfall-fountain or sorts to their left.

"I'm confused," she said quietly, "What is the Underground Concourse, and where are we?"

Zexion let her go and ran to where the pavement began, looking around. "We're in the residential section of Twilight Town, Sunset Terrace," he explained, "And the concourse is a shortcut of sorts, that the younger generation usually takes to get from place to place. We're all taking different exits and hoping we'll catch her."

Ria jogged over, and stopped beside Zexion. As she opened her mouth to reply, though, Zexion suddenly grabbed her. He pulled her very close, and suddenly the world was cast into deep shadow. It was exactly like the time they had hidden in the library before.

The trick still unnerved her, though, but she swallowed her nervousness and twisted a bit in Zexion's arms. From a nearby street, the girl came running in their direction. Both her and Zexion stayed very still as the girl passed, and Ria watched as she headed for the nearby hill.

Zexion let the shadows drop, and let his grip on Ria loosened.

"Tell everyone where we are, and I'll try and block her escape," he said, and disappeared into a portal.

Ria waited a moment once he was gone, and quickly thought, _Sunset Terrace, everyone. Head for the hill!_

Almost immediately, two portals opened near the hill, and Vexen and Xemnas ran up the path. Ria followed quickly, and as they came to the top of the hill, she found Saix and Lexaeus already there. Zexion stood in the middle, and seemed to be talking to the girl they surrounded in an even voice.

"Who are you?" the girl in white demanded, "Why are you chasing me?"

The half-circle widened at the rest of the members joined it, and Ria finally got a good look at the girl. She was only a bit shorter than Ria's five foot, four inches, with blue-violet eyes. White-blond hair fell to her shoulders. Her back was near the fence at the edge of the hilltop, and her eyes darted from person to person.

Finally, Xemnas took a step forward. "I am Xemnas, a Nobody like yourself," he said, voicing his words carefully.

"A…Nobody?" the girl asked, confusion on her face.

"Those without hearts, my dear," Xemnas continued.

Defiance filled the girl's eyes again, and she shook her head. "Don't call me that," she said stubbornly.

As Ria watched, standing between Zexion and Saix, she was reminded of her own first encounter with Xemnas:

_"What the hell is a Nobody?" she demanded, her back pressed against a tree. This strange, cloaked man that had been chasing her stood a respectable distance away. His silver hair and orange eyes made her feel uneasy._

_She glanced in around her, looking for a way to escape. As if reading her mind, the man snapped his fingers, and two strange gray creatures appeared around her._

_She pressed her back harder against the tree, but didn't move any further. Something in the back of her mind—some voice or instinct or extra sense—told her that the weapons she had conjured before would return to her if she needed them. She didn't understand why she had weapons shaped like dangerous fans, but they felt like they were part of her. When she had first woken up, she had attacked the gray creatures without a second thought._

_"A Nobody is what is left behind when a person with a strong heart is attacked by the Heartless," the man explained, "The Heartless claim the heart, and the body and soul are left behind. We are 'reborn' here, in Twilight Town, as empty shells, devoid of emotion since our hearts are missing."_

_She scowled, and watched the man for a moment. What had he called himself…Xemnas?_

_Well, if they couldn't feel emotions, why was she feeling angry and annoyed right now?_

_"My heart isn't missing," she growled back at him._

_He just tilted his head. "Really? Can your feel your heartbeat?"_

_She gave him a look, but set her hand over her heart and waited…and felt nothing._

_Gasping in surprise, she turned confused eyes to the man. "What…"_

_"You were attacked by Heartless, were you not?"_

_She opened her mouth to shout that she hadn't, but her memory drifted back to…before._

_Suddenly, her knees felt weak, and she pressed both palms flat against the trunk the tree. She felt the rough bark of the wood beneath her skin, and shivered._

_"Yes, I was," she finally said, her words barely audible._

_Xemnas nodded. "I once…experienced…what you are going through," he said, "But I will tell you that you are not lost. There is a group, called the Organization, which I am the leader of. We command the lesser Nobodies," at this he gestured to the gray creatures, "and strive to find a way to get our hearts back. Would you join us?"_

_In that moment, her mind raced. She had no heart, was in a strange world, did not know anyone…and here was someone, a stranger, offering her a sanctuary of sorts._

_Finally, she nodded, and pushed away from the tree._

_"Good," the man said, "Now, I see you have already learned to summon your weapons, but there are other things you must know. Come closer, if you would?"_

_She hesitated at first, but Xemnas only offered her his gloved hand. She looked from his face to his hand, and stepped forward. She slid her right hand into his left, and his fingers gripped hers tightly. She resisted the urge to pull away, and stood still as two fingers of his right hand touched her temple._

_For several seconds, she felt as though she was falling through a dark abyss, and she stopped breathing. Things rushed by her, fragments of memories and faces, the feeling of the wind of her face and thoughts…_

_Abruptly, she found herself in her body again, in the woods. She felt dizzy, and fought to keep standing. As she opened her eyes, Xemnas let go of her hand and took a step back._

_Before her, her name appeared in white letters that were both harsh and elegant: ARIANN._

_Then, with a gesture from Xemnas, they spun around her until they became a blur. Shortly after, they glowed brightly and another name in gold appeared in front of her._

_"Rianxan?" she asked, testing the name._

_"You're new name," Xemnas replied. "You are now Rianxan, The Spirited Reverie, Number Fourteen of the Organization,. You're element is spirit."_

_Her new name? No, her name was Ariann, but...Rianxan felt right. More right than 'Ariann'._

_"Spirit?"_

_Xemnas nodded, and offered her his hand again. She took it, and immediately found herself falling through darkness again. _

_"You're element is spirit, which is associated with willpower," Xemnas's voice said, echoing in her ear. "You are telekinetic, can give your thoughts substance so that others can hear them, and even use your magic to form a shield around yourself."_

_She wanted to ask "How do you know this?" but couldn't find her own voice._

_"I have my ways," was the response._

"Namine," the girl in white said, "My name is Namine."

Looking up, Ria suddenly realized she had drifted off. She had missed quite a bit of conversation the last few minutes.

Xemnas gave the girl, Namine, a strange look, as though he hadn't been expecting her words. After a second, he just nodded and offered Namine is hand.

"What am I supposed to do, shake your hand?" she asked.

"Trust me, it will help both of us," Xemnas replied.

Namine spent the next minute staring at him, and letting her eyes look at each of the people standing around her. Once, she glanced over the edge of the hill at the train tracks below, and Ria noticed Lexaeus moving over a bit. At last, Namine turned and took Xemnas's hand.

* * *

The whole name-choosing thing I got from the KH2: Final Mix video (the link is on my profile). I hope you enjoyed the chapter! I'll try and have the next one up soon. 

Reviews?

Sorry about the cliffhanger. :P


	22. Chapter 22

We have cleared ONE HUNDRED REVIEWS!!! SWEET!!!

Yes, I am excited! Thank you everyone who reviewed last chapter!!

I think I've updated more this week than any other week before. My creativeness might have been worn a little thin, so I'll wait until this weekend to update again. Hopefully this chapter turned out okay! If not, I apologize. Enjoy!

I own nothing but Ria.

* * *

**The Spirited Reverie**

**By**

**LadyDarkDreamer**

* * *

**Chapter 22:**

Everyone returned to the Castle That Never Was in a big group, all of them curious about the newest addition to the Organization.

Lexaeus was the first to step out of the meeting room, and Ria and Zexion soon followed him. When Vexen called Zexion back in though, Ria waited outside, leaning against the white wall. Voices spoke the hushed tones for the next few minutes, and Ria quickly grew bored until Lexaeus spoke to her. It was strange to hear him speak so much in a small amount of time.

"Could you come tomorrow afternoon, to the second basement?" he asked, looking down at her with friendly eyes. Ria had to crane her neck a little more than she wanted to; the guy was really tall. Or she was just short.

Well, she preferred the word petite, but who was asking?

"I'm sorry?" she asked, confused.

"My weapon experiments," Lexaeus explained, "You said you would help?"

"Oh! Yeah," Ria said, "I can come tomorrow. Any specific time?"

"Around four, perhaps?"

"Alright."

Nodding, Lexaeus opened a dark portal and disappeared. Ria crossed her arms over her chest, and glanced into the meeting room to see what the boys were up to. They were all conversing in a close circle, with Namine sitting in a chair nearby. The girl looked over in the direction of the door, her indigo eyes catching Ria's green-gold ones. Ria offered the teenager a smile, and was surprised a little when Namine returned it.

Leaning back into the hallway, she let her arms fall to her sides and walked around a bit. Finally, she heard footsteps coming in her direction, and stood to one side as the men stopped in the wide doorway. Namine was standing a little ways from Xemnas, but he still managed to keep one hand resting on her small shoulder.

Looking to Ria, Xemnas said, "Number Fourteen, if you would—"

"LUXORD, get your ass back here!"

The scream was very feminine and high-pitched, and since Ria was standing right there, it could only be one other person…

Her thoughts dissolved as Luxord came at a full run down the hallway. A thin knife sliced his shoulder, embedding in the wall in across from where Zexion and Vexen stood. Ria caught a glimpse of bare shoulder, and her reflexes left her conscious mind behind as she slapped a hand over her eyes. She heard him run past, cursing as lightning crackled in the air. Another of Larxene's screeches filled the hall, and Ria let her hand drop as the blond woman ran past the group.

A moment later, insane laughter filled the corridor, and she looked up to find Xigbar running upside down on the ceiling…and he was carrying a camera.

"Hey, dudes!" he shouted, stopping briefly to wave before taking off down the hallway.

When the footsteps finally disappeared, Ria glanced at everyone around her. Namine was nowhere to be seen, but after a moment she looked around Saix's back. Everyone seemed a little…disturbed.

"Was that just Luxord we saw…" Vexen began.

Zexion finished for him, "Running down the hall naked, with Larxene and Xigbar chasing him? Yes, I believe it was."

Another few seconds passed. "I'm going back to the lab," Vexen declared, opening a portal and leaving.

"We are never leaving Xigbar in charge again," Saix decided.

"I agree," Xemnas said, glancing at Namine.

The girl looked up at him. "I saw nothing, thankfully," she said, shaking her head.

Zexion rolled his eyes, and announced that he was going to find some alcohol. Ria quickly said she would join him, and followed him through a dark portal.

_**x-x-x-x-x-x-x**_

Closing the door behind him, Xemnas paused a moment in the corridor. He had finally gotten Namine settled in her room, and now he needed to be with his thoughts.

He turned and looked briefly at the door, recalling that Namine had watched him with distant eyes as he spoke to her. Upon leaving, he had glanced over his shoulder before walking through the door. He had found the girl bent over a sketchpad, with a pencil poised in her right hand. Both had seemed to materialize into her arms while his back was turned.

She was truly a marvel, this Namine; his journey through her subconscious had revealed as much.

The youngster had the power to control memories, to unchain them from a heart, rearrange them, and even change them to an extent.

More importantly, and perhaps the greatest detail of all, she had control over a single person's memories: that of the current Keyblade master, Sora, and all those that were connected to his heart.

The Keyblade, the great weapon that brought both chaos and peace to the worlds. The one weapon that had the power to release captive hearts from their imprisonment inside the Heartless, the power set them free and allow them to return to Kingdom Hearts…

…Kingdom Hearts, the heart of all worlds and the place were light and darkness collided. It could be both, a single one, or neither.

It was, perhaps, the one thing that would allow the Nobodies of the Organization to reclaim their hearts.

Normally, when a human being died, their hearts automatically returned to Kingdom Hearts. The process was slow, since people were not dying left and right. But hearts taken by the Heartless never returned to Kingdom Hearts, unless they were released. And the Keyblade was the only thing capable of releasing them. Oh, the Heartless could certainly be defeated by other means, but those hearts only disappeared and were left to wander until they found Kingdom Hearts on their own, or…simply disappeared.

At least, that's what Xemnas theorized.

The Keyblade master was, of course, the key. If the Organization could somehow harness the power of the Keyblade, command and use it to slaughter hundreds of Heartless and fill the void of Kingdom Hearts until it overflowed…perhaps they could get they're own hearts back from that very void. Xemnas had considered this idea before, but had discarded it because Sora was young and unpredictable. He was too nice for his own good, and wouldn't stray on the side of darkness or play a pawn for nothingness. The boy would never help the Organization willingly.

For once in a long while, Xemnas smiled.

And now, oh, now they had leverage over the boy. They had a talented Nobody capable of twisting Sora's memories so that he would forget who he was, and what his purpose was. If they planned everything carefully, they could draw Sora to them and use him to better themselves.

They could finally have their hearts back.

_But what about Roxas?_ some part of him thought.

Ah, Roxas: Sora's Nobody. The boy had been born a Nobody in the most interesting way, and had not a single memory of his past. He was quite an anomaly, with his Somebody still running around in the worlds, not knowing that he was missing half of himself.

Roxas didn't know anything about Sora, and Xemnas wanted to keep it that way. If he succeeded in creating a plan to ensnare Sora, he would keep Roxas well away from the Keyblade master. If the two were to meet…who knew what could possibly happen. There was a chance, if they met, that Roxas might merge with Sora and make the boy more powerful and harder to deal with. It was in the best interest of the Organization that the two remain separate. Roxas could never learn too much about his Other.

True, the original six members knew the truth about Roxas, but all had been sworn never to reveal what they knew to the teenager.

Realizing he was still standing outside of Namine's door, Xemnas clasped his hands behind his back. As he walked determinedly down the corridor, his thoughts raced.

_**x-x-x-x-x-x-x**_

"I'm tired," Ria stated simply.

She was laying on Zexion's sofa, her back resting on the seat cushions. Her legs were crossed at the ankles, and resting on the back and touching the wall. Her head sat partway off the edge, and she watched the world upside-down as Zexion messed around with something on the table.

He stopped for a moment, giving her a curious look as he glanced over.

"Yet you aren't trying to get to sleep," he replied. Turning back to the table, Ria heard the clink of ice being dropped into glasses.

She shrugged, and Zexion finally moved to one side. She could see what he was doing now, and she watched as he poured some kind of soda into two glasses. He poured a bit of some sort of alcohol in each, and walked over with the glasses.

Sitting up, Ria moved until she was sitting normally on the couch, her legs tucked under her. Zexion sat down beside her, but paused while handing her one of the glasses.

"How old are you?" he asked.

She raised her eyebrows, and gave him a look. "Do one age when one becomes a Nobody?"

"No," Zexion answered, "But still, answer the question."

"I was eighteen when I died, so I guess I'm eighteen now. Why?"

He smirked. "What was the legal drinking age in your world?"

Ria rolled her eyes. _Now_ she understood why he was asking.

"Does it matter? How old are you?" she countered.

A staring contested ensued, and Ria was determined to win it. But Zexion didn't look away; instead, he said, "Nineteen."

"What was the drinking age in _your_ world?" she continued.

Finally, with a sigh, Zexion handed her to drink. Smiling triumphantly, Ria took a sip and found that she rather liked the taste.

"Thank you," she said a moment later, leaning over and giving him a quick kiss on the cheek.

"You _are_ a pain," Zexion grumbled, "I should kick you out right now and leave you at the mercy of the white marble."

Ria froze, and gave him a look of mock-horror. "Please don't," she pleaded, "I don't want to run into a naked card-player."

Zexion had been taking a drink from his glass, and nearly choked. After swallowing and engaging in a coughing fit to clear his sinuses, he looked at Ria. "I really doubt Luxord and Larxene are still stampeding around the Castle," he assured her. By some fate of irony, several loud shouts and screams echoes through the walls, growing close for a moment before drifting farther away. Ria and Zexion exchanged a look, and he sighed, "Alright, _I_ don't want you to run into a undressed card-player."

Ria laughed, and took another sip of her drink before setting it on the coffee table side the sofa. She snuggled against Zexion, and closed her eyes for a few minutes.

Eventually, she opened her eyes again, and said, "You promised to tell me about the original group of the Organization. Will you?"

She felt Zexion shift a bit, and somehow he managed to reach over her and set his drink down.

"I can, but…" he paused, and she sat up to get a better look at him, "Some of the things I'll have to tell you are a little…alarming, to say the least. I'm not proud of my past, Ria, but I'm not ashamed of it either. Do you still want to hear about it?"

Ria watched his eyes for a moment, wondering what Zexion meant by the story being 'alarming'.

A second later, she nodded slowly, and waited.

Seeing her nod, Zexion took a deep breath and laced his fingers through hers.

"There were six of us, originally," he began, "Xemnas, Xigbar, Xaldin, Vexen, Lexaeus, and myself. We lived in a world called Radiant Garden, and were the apprentices of a man called Ansem the Wise. He was a brilliant scientist, and a well respected leader. We were all scientists, in a way, performing experiments and wanting to know more about the world around us. So, when Ansem came to us with a proposal to find out more about the heart, and about the light and dark within it, we all jumped at the chance.

"So, we started theorizing. I was the youngest apprentice, and after a few experiments I prompted Ansem to build a large laboratory in the basement of his castle. After it was built, we experimented on rats, stray dogs and cats, rabbits." Zexion stopped to take a breath, and perhaps gather his thoughts, before starting again, "And then we began experimenting on volunteers, human beings."

Ria tensed a bit at this, and frowned. But she quickly relaxed her features, and listened, "Shortly after that, Ansem ordered us to stop. He had been visited by a foreigner, he told us, a traveler of sorts; ones that seemed to know a lot about hearts and darkness. But none of us understood, none of the six of us could come a conclusion as to why Ansem was stopping experiments that he had been interested in for so long.

"We were so close to a discovery, we were sure. So, after Ansem locked up the basement, we broke in and continued the experiments in secret. We used each other as tests subjects, and we all lost our hearts in pursuit of our goal. After that, we wandered in darkness until we found this world, and we formed the Organization. It took a long time for us to discover our elements and our weapons, and to build this castle. We utilized any resource we could find, including our powers. We continued experimenting, giving ourselves a name: Nobodies. We learned to call the lesser ones, to make them do our bidding.

"We changed our names as well. We each arranged the letters of our Somebody's name, and added an 'x' to show we suffered from the same fate, and that we shared a common goal to reclaim our hearts. Eventually, we began searching the worlds and documenting them. We kept track of Heartless and observed, and eventually found Twilight Town. That world teeters on the edge where light and dark meet, and we learned quickly it was the birthplace for new Nobodies. We found Saix shortly after that, and Axel and the others, and our ranks grew, and we became what we are today."

Ria had been so focused on the story, that it took her a moment to realize it was finished. She blinked, and found Zexion watching her.

"It's not an overly detailed version, I know," Zexion said quietly, "But I don't like to think about it that often."

He looked away after that, his hand tightening on hers a little. Just a little, but enough for her to notice.

Touching his shoulder, she waited until he looked at her again.

"I would never hold your past against you, Zexion," she assured him, feeling as though she needed to tell him.

A small smile tugged at the corners of his mouth.

Satisfied that they were okay, Ria snuggled against him again. She spent the next few minutes half-asleep, debating on whether she should sleep in her own room that night, if she actually had enough energy to move, and if her stomach would decide to be mean and wake her up—she hadn't gotten to finish her meal before running off to Twilight Town, after all.

Twilight Town…Namine…

Opening her eyes, Ria sat up a little bit. "What were you, Xemnas and everyone talking about in the meeting room? After Lexaeus and I left?"

* * *

Whew! That was a kind of...different...chapter. I promise the next one will be better! Sorry if there are more typos here than there usually are. It's really REALLY late right now, and I'm tired and rushing a bit. :P

Reviews?


	23. Chapter 23

Oh my gosh…I've started doing beginner yoga at home with my mother, b/c she asked me too…and it's hell. My wrists and fingers and arms are so sore right now, it's not even funny. But I promised myself I would finish this chapter! Eh, it's actually not that bad. Once I get used to everything, the soreness should go away. No making fun of me for trying yoga; it's actually a little fun…sort of. Lol, I will reply with the phrase 'bite me' if anyone makes fun of me.

Thanks so much for the reviews, guys!

Nothing Kingdom Hearts related belongs to me. I just own Rianxan

* * *

**The Spirited Reverie**

**By**

**LadyDarkDreamer**

* * *

**Chapter 23:**

To Ria's surprise, Zexion laughed.

"Is what I said somehow funny?" she asked, partially glaring at him.

"Didn't you say something about being tired a few minutes ago?" he asked.

Ria shook her head, and sat up. "I did, but now I'm curious."

Zexion smiled, and stroked her hair a bit. "Well, I'm tired as well," he said, still ignoring her question, "I spent a week with a smug redhead, and came back only to chase a young teenager around Twilight Town a few hours later. It's been a long day. So, I suggest you teleport to your room and put on some pajamas, and come back here so we can sleep. You can make breakfast in the morning."

Ria snorted as he looked at her, and rolled her eyes. "You're avoiding my question, schemer."

"Not avoiding, just postponing it," he replied. Standing up, he pulling Ria to her feet and wrapped his arms around her from behind, just holding her. "You let me sleep, and I promise to another your question in the morning."

She scowled, though she knew he couldn't see it. Her subconscious seemed to be working against her, because she yawned suddenly. She could feel Zexion smirked, and finally sighed and gave in. "I don't really have to cook tomorrow, do I?"

"Yes you do, but I'll help. I'll teach you how to make french toast."

Despite herself, Ria smiled, and opened a portal so that she could look for pajamas.

_**x-x-x-x-x-x-x**_

He was not a morning person, most days. Yet here he was, wandering the corridors at nearly 7AM.

And why exactly was he, Roxas, up this early? Because Axel was a deep sleeper, and tended to steal the covers. Every inch of them.

And because Xemnas constantly kept the Castle really cold. Roxas hadn't felt like fighting Axel, so he'd gotten up to…

Well, he didn't really know. But did one always need a reason to walk?

Roxas paused as the smell of cinnamon and syrup drifted down the hall, and realized he was close to the kitchen. Suddenly very hungry, he decided he would see who was in the there. Depending on who was there, he might be able to join them for breakfast.

But as he came closer to the kitchen, he stopped as he heard Zexion's educated voice. He sighed, and turned to leave when he heard Ria's voice as well.

"Namine has an affinity for _memories_, Zexion? How is that even possible?"

Namine…wasn't that the girl Xemnas had brought back from Twilight Town last night? The girl with the blond hair and white dress.

Word traveled fast in the Castle That Never Was. Everyone probably knew about her by now; heck, Axel had even suggested they go to visit her sometime soon, just to see what she was like. Though, no one else had yet heard was Roxas was eavesdropping on, for sure.

"We don't yet know, but Xemnas wants us to find out. She'll have a few more days to settle in, before we start testing her powers. It's interesting, though…"

"What is?"

"I shouldn't say, but Xemnas told us he planned on calling a meeting soon, to keep everyone up to date," there was a pause, and then Zexion continued, "Namine doesn't have influence over everyone's memories, Ria, but one person's alone. She can affect the memories of a young boy known as the Keyblade master."

This caused Roxas to freeze. Keyblade master?

Looking down at his hands, Roxas summoned his two weapons, Oblivion and Oathkeeper. Xemnas had called them keyblades, once, when Roxas had first joined the Organization. After that, though, he hadn't said anything else about them. Roxas hadn't even questioned what the weapons were, or what they meant.

"Keyblade master? What's that?" Ria asked, voicing Roxas's own thoughts.

"Well, to begin, the Keyblade is a powerful weapon that can release the captive hearts held by the Heartless. It can also unlock or lock various doors and other things, and has a mind of its own. When the Heartless become so great in number that they threaten the worlds, the Keyblade chooses someone pure of heart to wield it. This time is chose a young boy of fourteen, by the name of Sora."

"_Fourteen_, Zexion? That's so young."

There was silence for a moment, so Roxas figured that Zexion had nodded.

"Yes, I know," he continued, "Now, Sora has been going on an adventure to save the worlds and stop the Heartless from taking over Kingdom Hearts—"

"Kingdom Hearts…Xemnas mentioned it before," Ria interrupted, "And said if we could somehow fill it to the brink with hearts, that we could get ours back."

"Yes, that is his theory, and it could work…if we were able to kill enough Heartless and release enough hearts."

"Wait, the Keyblade," she said quickly, "Doesn't _Roxas_ have two of them?"

Another brief silence. "That's just it, Ria. Roxas is Sora's Nobody."

Roxas stopped breathing then, his head jerking the direction of the kitchen doorway. He wanted to rush in, scream at Zexion and demand to know more. But something held him fast to the marble floor, forcing him to listen.

"_What? _The Keyblade master has a Nobody? How did this happen, and didn't you say he's on a quest right now?"

"Yes," Zexion replied, "But Ria, promise me you won't talk about this with _anyone _else. No one is supposed to know but the original six."

"Wait, you've been keeping this a secret from Roxas? Shouldn't he know that his Somebody is still running around? How is that even possible?" she questioned. "I'm so confused."

"First, Roxas does not have any memory of his former life. While in a world known as Hollow Bastion, Sora became a Heartless for a very short amount of time. He was rescued, though, by one of his friends. He regained his heart, and neither he nor Roxas knows that they are missing half of themselves," Zexion explained quickly.

"Secondly, Roxas _cannot _know, under any circumstances. Do you know how rare an anomaly such as this is? A Nobody with his Other still alive and in possession his heart, with his darker half on an opposing side. And now we have a second irregularity, which happens to be a young girl with the power to change the memories of the very boy we can use to get our hearts back."

Ria was quiet for some time, and Roxas took a single soft step towards the kitchen.

"I still think it isn't right, Zexion. Roxas has a right to know."

"Under different circumstances, I would agree. It's true that Roxas could probably regain his heart if he found Sora, but we can't be sure. This way, with Sora and Namine, we have a chance of _all_ the Organization getting their hearts, and not just one. It's for the greater cause, Ria. Can you…I'm sorry for sounding uncaring, but can you understand that?"

"I…" she broke off, but continued, "I can, Zex. So, what will happen now?"

"We'll spend the next few weeks testing Namine, I suppose. Then we'll work from there."

At this, Roxas had heard enough. He forgot about being hungry, about Axel stealing the covers and how it was an ungodly hour of the morning.

He turned down the hallway and opened a dark portal, heading to the library. Perhaps he could find something about the Keyblade and it's wielder there, something that could help him.

Help him with what, exactly, he didn't know.

_**x-x-x-x-x-x-x**_

The blue pencil circled gently over the paper, and Namine was left with a drawing of a blond boy with striking eyes. He was gazing at the ground, eyes forlorn.

The door opened, and Namine looked up in surprise to find a tall man with very spiky, red hair looking at her.

She said nothing, only watched as the man took several slow steps in. His hair bounced a little as he moved, until he came to stand in front of her.

Then he glanced down at her drawing, and moved to stand at her shoulder for a better look.

"Roxas," he said. "Do you know him?"

Namine looked at the man. "No, I haven't met him. Who is he?"

"A friend of mine," the redhead said. "He was supposed to come with me to meet you, but I couldn't find him this morning. Are you sure you haven't met him?"

"Yes, I'm sure. Who are you?" she asked. All these new, strange faces needed names to them. So far, the only people she knew were Saix and Xemnas.

"The name's Axel; A-X-E-L. Remember it," he said simply. "And you are?"

After a moment, she said, "Namine."

She returned to her drawing, then, reaching for a black pencil. She began a rough sketch, and Axel watched her for a few more minutes before heading for the door.

He paused, his hand on the doorknob. "If you see my friend, tell him I'm looking for him."

Namine only nodded, her attention on the figure taking form in the crisp notebook. She heard the door open and close, and dropped the black in favor for a handful of other colored pencils. Within a matter of minutes, she had added the redhead into the background of the picture, looking over his shoulder at the blond. His emerald eyes were downcast, his head low.

"Roxas," she whispered, "And Axel."

She touched the face of each, and flipped to a new page.

Somehow, Roxas seemed very familiar.

* * *

Ahhhh, I'm sorry this chapter was so short! I'll update tomorrow and the day after, the the chapters will be much longer! I promise! 

Reviews?

Thanks, guys. :)

Ahhhh, I'm sorry this chapter was so short! I'll update tomorrow and the day after, the the chapters will be much longer! I promise! 


	24. Chapter 24

**Whoa, sorry for the late update! I got caught up watching KH/anime skits on youtube. I really want to go to one of those conventions now. It looks SO fun!**

**Anyway, onward with the chapter!**

**I own nothing but Ria.**

**And dammit (pardon my language, guys! Sorry!) why is the site not sending review alerts??? I have a feeling PM alerts might not be working, too, so sorry if I haven't replied to anything yet. I will once the alerts are working again!**

* * *

**The Spirited Reverie**

**By**

**LadyDarkDreamer**

* * *

**Chapter 24:**

Glancing around, Ria tried to hide her nervousness. For some reason, nearly half the Organization was lounging near the far walls of the training room, waiting for Larxene and her to begin their last training session. Roxas and Demyx were talking, while Axel leaned against the, looking as tif he were sleeping. So far, the redhead hadn't even looked at her.

Luxord was twirling cards between his fingers, looking dejected because everyone had refused to bet with him. Xemnas and Saix stood apart from the group, speaking quietly while Xigbar attempted to strike up an optimistic conversation with Zexion.

_Wait, Zexion?_ she thought, _When had he gotten there?_

The young man glanced—well, glared, rather—at Xigbar, and then his eyes caught hers. Zexion's face was covered in shadow from his hair, but Ria caught the small smile he sent her nonetheless. She nodded slightly, and turned, stretching her arms above her head before summoning her weapons.

If she still had her heart, it would have been beating very fast at that moment. Having everyone there was bad enough, but having Zexion suddenly there also made her more nervous…and yet, she found she wanted to impress him at the same time.

Shaking her head, looked up as Larxene called her name.

"You ready, Number Fourteen?" the blond asked, her knives already in her hands.

Taking a step forward, Ria nodded, and took her stance. The high-ceilinged room immediately went quiet, and Larxene smirked and leapt forward.

Ria blocked two of the blond's attacks, taking three slices to her shoulder as she flipped over Larxene's head. Spinning, she slashed at the back of Larxene's cloak as the woman jumped out of the way. They continued to spar, giving and taking ground until Larxene managed to hook a boot under Ria's ankle. She swept her foot back, putting Ria on the ground with a hard thud. She cast a strong lightning spell, and Ria took the full force of it as she got to her feet and swept one fan upward.

Larxene stepped backward to avoid the arch, and Ria tossed her fans in the air. Holding her hands like she was actually holding her weapons, she used her magic to slash with her fans at a distance. After a short while, though, this took up a large amount of her power. Her weapons returned to her hands as Larxene threw her knives, and she block two of the five blades.

They returned to Larxene's hands, and Ria briefly recalled her training with Demyx. At one point, he had created a geyser of water so he could quickly travel across the room. Maybe…

Ria performed a cartwheel, avoiding Larxene's thunder spell. As her feet touched the ground, she used a great bit of magic to ignore the laws of friction and smoothly slide across the floor. Separating the blades of one fan, she propelled them high in the air. They came down fast and hard, ripping through the hem of Larxene's cloak in several places. They slammed into the marble floor, and pinned her cloak there.

Letting out a frustrated noise, Larxene grabbed a handful of the black fabric and pulled up one corner. Moving fast, Ria portaled over to where Larxene stood and pushed her to the ground. She held of the point of her second fan against the woman's back, only to find herself tumbling to the ground as the blond knocked her off her feet again. Larxene had her pinned to the ground a second later, three knives at her throat even as Ria pressed her fan into the woman's chest.

They stayed like that for a moment, and Larxene finally stood up, offering Ria a hand. As she helped the younger woman, she laughed. By now, Ria knew to ignore Larxene's strange behavior.

"You could certainly give some of the boys and run for their munny," she said, disappearing her knives. From Larxene, that was as close to a compliment as you could get.

A moment later, Xemnas came forward and nodded.

"Well done, Rianxan," he said steadily, "Report to my office at the end of the day tomorrow for your next mission."

He watched her for a moment, then opened a dark portal and walked into it. Ria shook her head once he left, and turned, searching for Zexion. Xemnas tended to do that a lot: say what he needed to say, and leave immediately afterward. How a person could be so direct, Ria didn't know.

She found Zexion looking disgruntled, very much like a ruffled cat. If he had been feline, his tail would have been twitching.

Xigbar stood to one side of him, patting his shoulder and grinning. Saix, Roxas, Axel and Demyx had already disappeared, and Larxene was giving Luxord one of her warning looks.

Walking over to where Zexion stood, Ria stood a little away from him until Xigbar spotted her. His grin widened, and he quickly threw an arm around Ria's shoulders and pulled her over.

"Here's the girl of the hour! Nice fight, newbie," he congratulated. Ria shifted uncomfortably, leaning as much away from Xigbar as she could without seeming rude.

Zexion seemed to notice her discomfort, and pushed Xigbar's arm off of her. Bringing her closer to him, he placed an arm around her waist possessively and glared a little at Xigbar.

The man laughed. "Cool your temper a little, Zexy. I'm not going to steal your girl; besides, she's not even my type."

Zexion's eyebrows rose in question. "Don't call me that. Do you even have a type, Xigbar?"

The older man glanced over his shoulder, and pointed a thumb at Larxene.

"You prefer your women sadistic?" Ria asked, before she could stop herself.

"Yep," Xigbar replied, not at all offended. "Only problem is, the Savage Nymph over there likes the company of our resident Flower Boy over anyone else."

"Flower boy?" she asked.

"Marluxia," Zexion said, the undertone of his voice hostile. "One of the neophytes."

"Uh, dude, your girlfriend is one of the newbies," Xigbar pointed out.

Suddenly realizing what he'd said, Zexion looked at Ria. "I'm sorry, I never meant—"

Ria silenced him with a hand gesture. "It's okay, Zex, it really doesn't bother me."

"Okay, she gets to call you 'Zex', but I can't call you 'Zexy'? What's up with that?"

Zexion rolled his eyes, and Ria couldn't help but laugh.

"Wait just a second," Xigbar continued, "Did you just apologize, Zexy?"

The schemer glared harder at the older man.

"Yes, you did!" Xigbar said, his voice rising, "I just heard the Cloaked Schemer, one of the most secretive and proud members of the Organization, apologize. You're working wonders, Ria. How do you do it?"

Despite herself, Ria smirked. She really didn't know what she was doing, but…she suddenly had the playful urge to pin Zexion against the wall and kiss him. She pushed the idea to the back of her mind, though. She wasn't sure how Zexion would react if she did that, especially in front of Xigbar.

So, she shrugged in response to Xigbar's question.

The man shook his head, and said, "Fine, fine, keep your secrets, newbie." He turned to walk over to where Larxene still stood, but turned and gave them a thumbs-up and a big smile."By the way, you two are so cute. Keep up the good work, Ria. If dear Zexy had a heart, you'd be melting it."

She heard Zexion sigh beside her, and quickly opened a dark portal before Xigbar could say anything more. She pulled him through, and closed it. They stood in the quiet of the corridor of darkness for a few minutes, until Ria finally grew tired of waiting for him to speak. Sneaking around behind him, she linked her arms around his waist and sent her chin on his shoulder. Zexion glanced at her, and half-smiled.

"Does Marluxia bother you?" Ria finally asked.

After a moment, Zexion nodded. "Yes, very much so. His level-headed enough, but he's conniving and questions nearly everything we do, and…"

"You don't like him," Ria finished for him.

Zexion shrugged, and didn't reply. Ria let the silence drift for some time, until she finally grew tired of it.

"So, what do you want to do?" she asked, relaxing a bit against him. "I don't have to attempt to find Lexaeus until four, so—"

"I almost forgot," Zexion interrupted evenly, "Lexaeus wanted me to tell you his weapons experiment had been pushed back, for now. Xemnas wants him and Vexen to focus on setting up the tests for Namine, so they're ready in the next few days."

"Oh, okay," she replied. So, she had the afternoon and evening off…what could she possibly do with it? Well, she wanted to spend it with Zexion, for one. Unless, of course, he happened to have other plans. She could ask him to take her to visit Namine, since she wanted to get to know the teen a bit. Then, a sudden thought entered her head, and she smiled. "Zexion, I have an idea," she said, "How about you and I change into some normal clothes, and go spend the day in Twilight Town?"

Zexion's head jerked around at he quickly looked at her, question in his eyes. He moved to turn, and Ria let her arms drop to her sides.

"Visit Twilight Town? Why, exactly?"

"No real reason," she admitted, "Getting away from the Castle and actually seeing some sunlight would be good, though. What do you think?"

He gave her a skeptical look, and she wondering briefly was he was thinking.

"I'm not sure about this, Ria," he finally said, "What if Vexen or Xemnas needs one of us?"

Ignoring any protests from her mind, Ria put her hands on Zexion's shoulders and kissed him. The kiss was brief though, and Zexion looked surprised when she pulled away.

"Please, Zexion? They won't miss us for a day."

After a moment, he nodded.

_**x-x-x-x-x-x-x**_

With a growl of frustration, Roxas threw the book across the room. It hit the wall, and fell to the floor with a loud thud.

Another pointless search through a stupid book, that didn't even _mention _anything about the Keyblade. Roxas had been combing the shelves of the library for the last few hours, after leaving the training room with Axel and Demyx. He had told Axel he wanted to take a nap, so the redhead had run off with the musician to bother Marluxia. Axel didn't even know that the blond was in the library.

Every book Roxas had found and looked through had turned up nothing. The story of the Keyblade was absent from the library, it seemed. He couldn't even find the word in any encyclopedia or history book.

In his mind, at least, this was all very strange.

Could Xemnas have, possibly, kept any volume with information on the Keyblade out of the library on purpose? Just to keep Roxas in the dark?

"I wouldn't put it above him," Roxas muttered, crossing his arms and sprawling on one of the couches.

"There you are!" a familiar voice said. Roxas sat up a little, and found Axel standing across the room. "Aren't you supposed to be napping, Roxas? Who would have thought I'd find you in the library, of all places." Axel then shook his head and came to sit beside him.

"Hey, Ax."

"What are you doing here anyway, kid? Looking for something?"

Roxas shut his eyes, and let his head fall against the back of the couch. "Sort of."

When Axel didn't reply, Roxas looked over to find his friend watching him intently.

"Well, you going to tell me more? I need details, Roxas, details."

Roxas silently wished those green eyes weren't focused on him.

He hadn't yet told Axel what he had learned. Roxas had wanted to try and find out anything he could by himself, and then work his way from there, but…Axel was the person he was closest to is this entire Castle. If there was one person he should tell, and ask for help from, it should be the redhead.

"There's something I need to tell you, Axel, something I overheard from Zexion this morning," he said slowly, dropping his eyes.

"What, did Zexy leave Catty for our dear Demyx?" Axel asked, a cocky grin on his face.

"What? No," Roxas replied, shaking his head. Why the hell would Zexion ever go after Demyx? The thought was simply ridiculous. "I heard Zexion say something about me, something important about my past."

Axel's face immediately went serious, and he put a hand on Roxas's shoulder.

"What did you hear, Rox?"

_**x-x-x-x-x-x-x**_

"Are you sure about this?" Roxas asked, looking past Axel's waist and down the hallway.

After hearing Roxas's story, and discussing it with him some, the pyro had come up with a brilliant idea: Xemnas had a personal library in his office. Why not distract the Superior long enough to sneak in and peek through a few books? Even steal some if they needed to. They could be in and out before Xemnas knew it, and maybe even learn a bit more about the Keyblade.

So, they had gone to Demyx, and convinced him to flood as much of the Castle as he possibly could. The hope was that Xemnas would find water up to his ankles, and run off to deal with Demyx and the impending overflow of water he was causing. Demyx would keep Xemnas busy as long as he could. When Xemnas was on his way back to the office, Demyx would signal the other two by singing very loudly.

It wasn't foolproof, but it was certain worth the risk.

Leaning back against the hallway they were hiding in, Roxas let out a breath and waited.

Minutes passed, and soon he found liquid on the floor, slowly beginning to rise around his boots.

Looking to Axel, the redhead nodded.

"Thank you, Demyx," he whispered.

Suddenly, the water level rose at an alarming rate, and Roxas could hear the notes of Demyx's sitar echoing through the corridors. There was a cry of fury up the corridor, and Axel quickly pushed Roxas into a nearby storage closet just a short distance away. His back hit the wall, and everything was plunged into darkness as Axel got in and shut the door to a small crack. With one eye focused on corridor, Axel kept it very still as a rush of water passed by. Roxas heard shouts outside, and muffled footsteps.

Axel opened the door a moment later, and smirked back at Roxas.

"Let's go."

_**x-x-x-x-x-x-x**_

Zexion tightened his hold on Ria's hand as they walked down the hallway.

The impromptu trip to Twilight Town had been quite…

Well, he didn't really have a way to describe it.

Perhaps enlightening was the right word, but even his intelligent mind couldn't be sure.

* * *

Haha, I loved writing this chapter! xD I enjoy Xigbar's character a lot, just the way he thinks and how fun it is to write him teasing Zexion. The whole weird liking-Larxene thing is so random, though! Larxene spends her time with Marluxia, while Xigbar has a 'thing' for her, and Luxord is just random thrown in there for humor. Oh, and I've got nothing against Zexion and Demyx being together in some stories. I like the pairing...just not for my story. :P

Sorry if the pace of the chapter seems a bit off. I wrote the first fourth of it about three hours ago, got caught up in other stories and videos and listening to music. So, the last three quarters might seen a bit upbeat. Next chappy coming tomorrow!

Reviews?


	25. Chapter 25

Whoa, I am INCREDILBY sorry, guys! I never meant to take so long to update. I got caught up in a new story idea, and had to get that out of my system first before my Muses locked me in a nearby closet. But I was finally able to write this chapter, so enjoy! I will have another update tomorrow.

Thank you for all the reviews! I love reading them!

I own nothing but Rianxan.

* * *

**The Spirited Reverie**

**By**

**LadyDarkDreamer**

* * *

**Chapter 25:**

Several weeks passed, and Ria found herself spending more time either alone, or with Demyx or Larxene when she wasn't on some random reconnaissance mission. She was beginning to hate these pointless missions Xemnas was constantly sending her on. Returning to the Castle only ground more on her nerves, because she rarely saw Zexion. Xemnas had given Vexen, Lexaeus, Zexion, and some man named Xaldin the task of testing Namine's memory skills. As a result, all four of the scientists confined themselves to the basements, conducting experiments, questioning Namine, and the like.

Sighing, Ria pulled on a black tank top and brushed off her light blue pajama pants. They were baggy and hung low on her hips, while the top had a silver skull and crossbows on the bottom left of it. Her sneakers where already on her feet, and she shut her closet rather loudly. She had just finished returned from a mission, giving Xemnas her report, and showering. Her wet hair was back in a clip, and she was intent on heading to the kitchen.

Opening a dark portal, she appeared in the empty room and set about making a sandwich.

She missed Zexion, it was that simple. She hated the fact that he was almost always in the basement, trying to unlock the key to Namine's powers. Ria knew it was for the benefit of the entire Organization, but still…

Nearly every night now, she slept in her own room because Zexion was sleeping at odd hours, or not at all. She had taken to living off sandwiches, canned soup, and fresh fruit because she couldn't cook to save her life. Until now, Ria hadn't actually realized how much she liked and depended on Zexion's amazing cooking. And she hadn't realized how much she enjoyed having someone to curl up with while she slept.

"Let me guess, you have some sort of really casual date after you eat? Perhaps with a certain Cloaked Schemer?"

Surprised, Ria turned quickly to find Larxene standing in the entrance. The woman smirked, and walked purposefully into the room, opening the fridge and taking out an apple. She watched Ria as she grabbed an individual bag of chips from one of the bottom cabinets. Ria emptied the chips onto the plate her sandwich was on, and sat at the table with her bottle of water. When she glanced up at Larxene, the blonde came over and sat across from her.

"So, am I right?" she asked.

"What?" Ria said, giving her a confused look. Larxene just shook her head.

"Do you have a date with Zexion, or not?"

"Oh," she replied, gazing down at her boring dinner for a moment. "No, I don't. He's still in the basement, as far as I know."

Larxene snorted, and laughed. "Damn men, always obsessed with their work."

Ria didn't answer, and took a bite out of her sandwich. She really didn't want to hear Larxene's rantings, but there was nothing better for her to do. Besides, having someone to talk to was better than hanging out by herself. And Larxene _was_ the only other female in the Organization.

Suddenly inspired, Ria swallowed, drank some of her water, and looked up at the other woman. "So, Larxene," she asked, "Do you have interest in any of the Organization men?"

Larxene watched her for a moment, and smiled. "I do, actually. Care to trade stories?"

"Excuse me?" Ria asked, confused.

"You tell me about you and Zexy, and I'll tell you about me and my current male interest."

Frowning, Ria considered this idea for a moment. For one, this was Larxene she was talking to, the sadist of the Organization; she wasn't sure she wanted to hear any story about Larxene's love life. It was bound to be scary, and possibly disturbing. Then again, she had brought up the subject, and she _was _a little curious about why Larxene was interested in Marluxia.

So…

"Alright, what do you want to know?" Ria finally asked, eating a few of her chips.

Larxene's smile widened. "Okay, first off, is Zexion a good kisser?"

Ria froze for a moment as the question sunk in, and gave Larxene a look. "Um, yeah, I guess so."

"That's a very detailed answer," the blond replied.

"I didn't know I was supposed to give exact details," she countered, "So, are you really, well, with Marluxia?"

"I am. How did you find out?"

Ria smiled innocently and raised her palms in defensive. "I hear things," was all she said.

Larxene laughed, and immediately asked, "Alright, next question: have you spent the night in Zexion's room yet?"

At this, Ria looked at her in surprise, and felt a blush crawling its way smoothly across her nose and cheeks. She took another bite of her sandwich, and glared at Larxene as the woman laughed again. Yes, Larxene was truly a sadist.

"Are you going to answer, or not?" she asked.

"Answer what?" a familiar male voice interrupted. Ria turned to the doorway, and suppressed the urge to jump up and pounce on Zexion. He was watching both women with a curious expression, eyes moving from one to the other. Instead, Ria allowed herself to smile, and put down the sandwich.

After a considerable amount of silence, Zexion finally said, "Never mind, I don't want to know. Ria, I was wondering if you would come to the basement with me?"

Ria watched him for a moment, frowning, but left her food on the table and walked into the hallway.

"What's up?"

Zexion shook his head, and took her hand. Larxene smirked at them.

"Have fun!" she called, as they disappeared into a dark portal.

Ria ignored the comment, happy to be walking beside Zexion as he led them through unfamiliar corridors. She really had missed him.

"Zexion?"

"Hmm?"

Ria shook her head, and leaned a little closer to him as they walked. "I'm not entirely sure why you would want me to come to the basement," she explained, "Aren't you guys still running tests with Namine?"

Zexion halted for a second, watching her. "Yes, and that is exactly why we need you," he said as they started walking again.

"Need me? For what?"

"This will sound a little far-fetched, but…you element is spirit, and lies with the power and manifestation of your thoughts," he explained, stopping as they came to a door. He rested his free had on the door, and continued, "I thought that maybe you could help us, and help Namine focus her energy. Memory is part of the mind, and should be connected to thought in some way."

Ria bit her lip, still not completely understanding. "Zexion, I can't do more than move things and project my thoughts into the air. How can I possibly help Namine with her ability?"

"I'm not entire sure, it was just an idea," he replied, "And besides, I missed you."

She smiled a little at hearing this, but before she could reply, Zexion and pulled her close and kissed her. She was caught off guard, but quickly returned the kiss, resting her arms around his neck and his hands fell to her waist. The kiss didn't last long, though, as Zexion pulled away. He smiled at her, a smile Ria could have sworn only a male could have, and opened the door to the lab, where his colleagues and Namine were waiting.

_**x-x-x-x-x-x-x**_

"Find anything worthwhile in there, Roxas?"

Glancing up from the book in his hands, Roxas nodded. Axel shrugged and returned to spinning one of his chakrams, watching the boy as he read.

The plan had been successful. He and Axel had had plenty of time to search through Xemnas's personal library. Roxas had be hoping to find some old history volumes or something of the like, but the ones that Axel had managed to spot had been golden. The redhead had found Xemnas's journals, documenting nearly every day from the time the Organization was formed, to present day. While Axel had teleported to the library to find a few look-alike volumes, Roxas had flipped through them trying to find the date he had joined. Having found it, and anything else that looked interesting, Axel replaced the missing spaces with books that looked similar, and they left.

Roxas had spent the last few weeks carefully reading and rereading any entry with details about himself or the supposed Keyblade master. He still couldn't remember anything about his past, but he was beginning to understand.

And he was also beginning to hate Xemnas for keeping all of this from him.

Didn't he have the right to know?

_**x-x-x-x-x-x-x**_

Rolling over, Ria snuggled against the warm body she found beside her. Letting out a breath of contentment, she was happy to let sleep take her again. Her mind drifted, and she was nearly asleep when someone suddenly sat up and threw back the covers.

Her eyes snapped open, and she brought her knees up to her stomach as the cold air met her bare feet. Sitting up, she fixed Zexion with a hazy glare as she ran a hand through her hair and pulled her shirt down further. Cold air was the enemy right now, and the skin on her stomach was _not _going to meet it if she could help it.

Zexion glanced over at her, and grabbed a cloak sitting on the back of the chair near the window. Throwing it in her direction, he headed for his dresser.

"Zexion," she said, her voice serious, "What, the hell, are you doing?"

As she rubbed her eyes and watched him, he laughed.

"We slept late, Ria, and Xemnas made sure that everyone knew we had a meeting this morning. We've got about five minutes to look decent and get there," he explained, glancing over at her. "I suggest you wake up and get dressed. Quickly."

This woke her up, and Ria cursed and rolled off the bed. Heading for the closet, she searched around on the floor for the few folded clothes she had taken to leaving in Zexion's suite. About a quarter of her clothes she kept here, simply because she was too lazy to teleport to her room to change outfits most days. Grabbing a pair of black jeans and a random shirt, she changed fast and left her pajamas on the ground.

Picking up the single pair of boots she kept there, she managed to pull one on while standing. She lost her balance and fell over, though, and pulled on the other boot from where she sat. Scrambling to stand, she pulled on her cloak and zipped it up. Zexion tossed her something, and she only discovered after catching it that it was one of her hair clips. She held it in her teeth, sweeping her hair back and twisting it three times loosely before using the clip to keep it up.

Zexion was already dressed, so he opened the portal to darkness. They appeared in the meeting room to find everyone else already in their seats. Larxene was smirking, and a few of the other members were hiding smiles and laughter. Just as Ria and Zexion took their seats, though, did Xemnas enter the room.

He glanced at everyone, coming to stand at the head of the table. He rested his palms on the white surface, and started speaking.

Ria listened intently, and mentally sighed as she realized that Xemnas was just telling them that the experiments with Namine were progressing nicely. It had only been a week since Zexion had brought her to the basement, and Ria knew every detail of what had happened during that time. She had helped with some of the tests, and chatted openly with Namine about many things when they weren't busy. The girl really was intelligent, and Ria enjoyed talking with her. She had even been surprised when she caught Namine drawing a picture of her.

Xemnas's mantra continued. They needed to wait patiently during this time, to see how the experiments progressed. This would surely bring them closer to the goal of obtaining their hearts…

Only half paying attention, Ria was surprised when Xemnas ended the meeting.

_Well, this was certainly worth getting out of bed_, Ria thought sarcastically, directing it to Zexion.

She glanced over at him as everyone began to stand up, and he smiled at her. She stood up, stretching a bit as she circled around her chair. Zexion would probably agree with her plan to go back to bed and sleep some more. If not, she'd find a way to persuade him.

"You were nearly late, Catty. Busy?"

About to walk around the table, Ria froze. Turning slowly, she found Axel standing near the wall with his arms crossed. His eyes were full of amusement.

"I would appreciate it if you didn't call me that, Axel," she said, slowly and carefully. It had been a long time since Axel had noticed her presence, and her temper towards him had cooled somewhat since then. Plus, she had met Roxas, and he and Axel were close. She had left Axel alone because she didn't want to lose Roxas as a friend.

"Ooh, she's already making demands," he said, uncrossing his arms and waving his hands near his head.

"Come on, Axel, leave her alone."

Ria glanced briefly over at Demyx, reminding herself to thank him later. Roxas just stood to the side, looking uneasy.

But Axel didn't even acknowledge that Demyx had spoken. He took a step towards Ria, smirking.

"What were you up to before the meeting, Catty? Spending some quality time with Zexy?"

Ria felt her hands tighten into fits at her sides, and set her teeth to keep from grinding them together in annoyance. She knew it would be better to ignore Axel, so she turned and started to walk away.

"Because, you know, I really doubt he has any feelings for you. Some members of this Organization tend to get lonely, and any new additions are considered fair game," Axel continued, and Ria did her best to tune out his voice, even though his words stung. She knew there was no truth behind it, though. Zexion would never do that to anyone, especially her. "You may be new here, but you really don't belong. You're small and weak, even if you can take down Larxene in a practice fight. Real life isn't practice, Catty, and you would definitely die in the first real life-or-death battle you were forced into. At least if you died, the Organization would be less one incompetent girl. And then Zexy wouldn't have to bother telling you it was over when he got tired of you."

Ria stopped walking at that moment, shaking a little as she tried to ignore her anger. She was vaguely aware of Zexion coming towards her, but she shut her eyes tight as Axel spoke again:

"No one lacking a heart wants to deal with emotional crap, Catty."

That snapped her. Ria's eyes opened in a flash, and she summoned her fans as she whirled around. She let her power carry one weapon across the room and Axel barely dodged it. Jumping onto the table, Ria flipped over the last chair and immediately took the offensive as Axel's weapons appeared in his hands. He danced away from her attack, creating fire in a circle around them as he blocked her weapons. A few quick cuts slashed Axel's arms and back, and Ria sidestepped as Axel threw his chakrams.

Her instincts took over, and she attack when she felt it was the right time and blocked when she had too. Dropping to one knee, she crossed her fans to protect her face as Axel slammed on of his chakrams downward. She pushed back with all her strength, only to hit the ground as a fire attack seared her right side. She managed to half-roll away, flinching as she felt one of the weapon points bite into her lower back.

She turned, slashing upward, only to have her attacked blocked. Ria was knocked back by a chakram sweep paired with a fire attack, and recovered in enough time to only parry Axel's next attack. As she regained her balance, Axel disappeared from view. Leaping straight into the air, Ria used her magic to keep her poised there for a second, and dropped down quickly as she spotted the redhead. She landed beside Axel, dropping down and sweeping his legs out from under him. The pyro leapt to his feet, though, and Ria crossed her fans and pushed Axel back as far as she could.

Before he could move, she used her magic to stop his movements and threw her fans into the air. The sharp blades separated, and Ria gestured with her hands, causing the blades to embed themselves in and out of the marble ceiling. Just as Axel started to move, chucks of different sizes began to fall from the ceiling. Ria didn't let up on the destruction, even as she heard her name being called. She continued until there was a very large hole that she could see the above room in, and growled in frustration and the marble finally started to topple down on Axel. She lost her focus as something barreled into her, though, the breath knocked from her lungs as she hit the ground hard.

Looking up, Axel raised both chakrams and was surrounded by a column of hot fire at the stones covered him.

* * *

Oohh, cliffhanger! Sorry guys, I had to end it that way. xD Axel's fate shall be revealed in tomorrow's update! And before everyone goes all "why is Axel being mean to her?!" I just wanted to say that I didn't like writing that stuff so much. I love Axel as a character, and I will hint that he and Ria will eventually come to a truce. The question is, when?? 

Reviews?

I finally got around to outlining the rest of the story, and so far, I'm guessing there might be about ten more chapters, maybe a few more. I can't be sure, though, because more ideas could randomly pop up. Thanks for reading!


	26. Chapter 26

Okay, here is the next chapter! My updating schedule is so weird...I usually start working on a new chapter in late evening, and finish it sometime after midnight. It takes me another hour reread it, edit, and get it up on the site. So, that's why my updating times are always so strange. xD Enjoy the chapter!

I own nothing but Rianxan.

* * *

**The Spirited Reverie**

**By**

**LadyDarkDreamer**

* * *

**Chapter 26:**

Ria fought get to her feet, having no desire to be pinned to hard marble floor. But whoever had knocked her down was still half on top of her, and wasn't letting her move. She snarled in irritation, and struggled against the person that held her down. Still not knowing who it was, she heard her name being shouted forcefully. Finally, she managed the slide onto her side, and pushed the person away with one booted foot. But the person had other ideas, and rolled them over so she was pinned to the ground again.

Before she could react, hands pinned her wrists at her sides, and another hand found its way to her forehead. Ria felt something pass through her, and let out a shuddering breath as she fell into darkness.

_**x-x-x-x-x-x-x**_

Zexion fought to catch his breath, and moved to let go of Ria's wrists. He kneeled down beside her, absently holding one of her hands despite the fact the entire Organization was present. Frankly, he didn't care what they thought. He wasn't going to leave Rianxan's side while she was unconscious, unless of course, Superior ordered him too.

And Xemnas was currently crouching on the woman's other side, one gloved hand resting on her forehead. Zexion didn't know what the man had done, but it had caused Ria to black out, and that had definitely been in her best interest. He hated Axel for the words the redhead had said, but he had never expected Ria to respond so violently to them. Something inside her had taken over, and she had not stopped her attack on Number Eight even when Zexion called her name. Everyone else but Xemnas, Saix and himself had been uneasy about approaching the furious girl.

Hearing movement, he looked up to find Xemnas standing. Then a loud crash shook the floor beneath their feet, and Zexion's attention snapped over to the pile of rubble that had been the half of the ceiling not too long ago. Had Ria's magic really done that?

A moment later, a dark portal open and Axel stumbled though it. He looked quite worse for wear, his hair disheveled and his cloak in tatters. Scratches covered his face and neck, and he was breathing hard. He limped a bit before coming to a halt, standing up fully and looking around at everyone.

He then scowled. "What are you all staring at?" he demanded angrily.

Turning, Xemnas fixed him with a hard stare. Axel shifted his stance back a little, but didn't say anything more.

"I will deal with you later, Axel. For now, get out of my sight."

Axel's scowl deepened, but he started to walk towards the doorway at the other end of the room. He looked very much like a feline caught in the act of making a mistake, or being ungraceful. The only thing missing was the characteristic 'I-meant-to-do-that' look on his face. When he realized that everyone was watching him limp, though—as well as him holding his left arm tight against his side and stomach—he stormed off into a portal.

Almost as soon as it closed, Zexion felt the hand in his shiver. As his attention quickly turned back to Ria, she gasped and sat up before anyone else could move. The scent of smoke and lilies rose considerably in the room as she woke up, and Zexion barely had time to brace himself as a backlash of power shook the meeting room.

Several more pieces of ceiling cascaded further down the room, causing several of the other members to dodge them or disappear into portals. Normally it would have been amusing to see Vexen jump out of the path of marble piece. But now it was just dangerous, and Xigbar pulled Marluxia out of the waterfall of destruction until the dust settled.

Xemnas, though, was not fazed by the display. He rested a hand on Ria's shoulder and gripped it hard, looking down at her at she flinched, and met his gaze. Though he suddenly wanted to protect her from Xemnas's gaze, Zexion swallowed his feelings and slowly let go of Ria's hand. He stood, and only took a small step back, so he could still be near her.

Grabbing a handful of her cloak, Xemnas pulled Ria to her feet and let her go. She stood there, frozen, looking slightly lost. It was quickly replaced by loathing, as if she didn't appreciated being forced around by the silver-haired man beside her. She quickly masked it though, her features relaxing. Hopefully, Xemnas hadn't seen the distaste aimed in his direction, or he would just choose to ignore it.

"That was a severe mistake in judgment on your part, Number Fourteen," he began, his voice very serious.

Ria looked slight taken aback, but recovered herself the best she could. "I...I mean, Superior—"

"I will hear none of it," Xemnas's voice rose, and Zexion had to do his best to remain stoic as he noticed what he thought might be fear pass fleetingly through Ria's eyes. Had it been fear? His spirited dream didn't seem like one that would be frightened by anything easily, especially the very leader of their Organization. "It is true that Axel's words were uncalled for, but you did not have to acknowledge them. The better decision would have been to ignore him. Instead, you chose to initiate a fight, one that could have left either of you seriously injured, or worse. This Organization needs all of its members, Number Fourteen, and it needs them in excellent condition. You were risking the very existence of yourself and Number Eight."

Zexion watched as Ria opened her mouth to respond, but she thought better of it. She fought to relax visibly, and finally nodded.

"Axel will be punished accordingly," he continued, "But you began the fight, and in the process destroyed half of the meeting room. So, you will get the harsher punishment."

"Yes, Superior," was all she said, but Zexion could see her fists tightening at her sides.

Xemnas shut his eyes, thinking for a moment. When he opened them again, he said, "Xaldin is going on a hard and dangerous mission, beginning early tomorrow morning. You will go with him, and do everything that he asks you to do. You will be hunting down a new type of Nobody that was detected only hours ago, and will bring it back here for studying. As soon as you return, you will set about rebuilding this room. I will have another mission or you when you finish that task. Now, go treat any injuries you may have; you will need your strength for tomorrow."

Ria seemed quite surprised by Xemnas's orders, but she didn't say anything as Xemnas left the room. After a few moments, the other members slowly began to leave, and Ria just glanced over at Xaldin as he disappeared. Roxas had left shortly after Axel, and Zexion watched as Demyx came over and patted Ria's shoulder. He whispered something about being proud of her for destroying the meeting room, but she didn't smile.

Only after everyone was gone did Zexion move forward and wrap his arms around her. She tensed for a moment, but quickly relaxed into his embrace. She hugged him tightly, burying her face in his shoulder. When she began to shake slowly, he held her closer and ran his hands through the hair at the base of her neck. She flinched, though, when he touched her right side.

Suddenly remembering that Axel had burned her with a fire spell, he quickly surrounded them in a portal.

_**x-x-x-x-x-x-x**_

When she flinched, Zexion whispered in apology.

She was laying on her left side on Zexion's bed, trying to push away every thought that was going through her mind. Ria had wanted nothing more that to crawl under the covers and forget everything that had happened in the last hour, but Zexion had made her change back into her pajamas. He was insistent on treating the burns on her right side, and giving her elixirs until she felt well enough again. So, she had ended up resting on her left side, while Zexion sat close to her back and applied some sort of herbal mixture onto the burns with gentle fingers.

It still hurt like hell, though. Had she been human, the burns would have been considered second degree and she would have been forced to see a healer. But she was a Nobody, so it wouldn't affect her nearly as much. By tomorrow morning, she should be perfectly well.

Well enough to go on that "hard and dangerous" mission with Xaldin. Curses…

The pressure of fingertips once again hit a sensitive spot on her side, and she flinched again. She moved to sit up, glancing over her shoulder at Zexion. She laid back down, though, when he fixed her with a hard glare.

"Move again, and I will cast a stop spell that will _make_ you stay put," he warned, though his voice was soft.

Ria nodded. "Thank you, Zexion," she finally said, after a moment.

She could have sworn she heard him smile. Well, it was probably one of those half-smiles she always got from him. She had yet to actually see a smile that was accompanied by a flash of teeth. When Zexion touched her shoulder, she glanced over to find him handing her yet_ another_ elixir. This time though, she didn't complain. She took it from his hand, and drank it down. The spelled liquid immediately took affect, and she felt a bit better.

Another few minutes, and Zexion had her sit up so he could wrap gauze around the burns. When she mentioned the fact that it wouldn't get infected, his excuse was that the gauze would keep the burn ointment from ruining her shirt. Ria sighed, but agreed, and had two layers wrapped snuggly around her middle, from her bottom rib to her waist. Almost immediately, Zexion rested his arms loosely around her waist and pulled her close.

"It's terrible what Axel said, and unfair," he said slowly, after a quiet minute. "I don't know why he felt the need to say those things, but he shouldn't have. He had no right, and you belong here in the Organization just as much as anyone else."

Ria's breath caught in her throat at those words, and the rest of Axel's terrible speech repeated itself in her mind.

"Zexion…" she paused, nearly unable to ask what had entered her mind. "What Axel said, a…about the newest members being fair game…that, that isn't true, is it?"

Oh, holy Kingdom Hearts, was she doubting herself and her feelings for Zexion? Or his feelings for her? Was she questioning everything that had happened between them since they had kissed that first time? Her brain practically screamed at her that Axel's words were ridiculous. She _knew_ in her soul that Zexion would never, ever…_play_ with anyone like that. He would never lead her on, or pretend to like her just so he could be with her. But…what about the other members?

Goodness, why was she asking herself these questions?

Zexion tensed behind her, and she fully regretted asking the question, especially when she was certain nothing that Axel said was true.

"I…I cannot speak for the other members, Ria, but most of us have a certain…dignity," Zexion answered after a minute, "We stay out of each other's personal lives for the most part, and keep to ourselves. Then there are asses like Axel that like to twist another being's…happiness…into something he can turn against them. Which is actually incredibly idiotic, since he is currently with Roxas."

"Axel is with Roxas? Like, romantically?" she suddenly asked, surprised.

"Yes."

"I thought they were just best friends."

"They are, but the way they act around each other has changed over the past few months," Zexion replied, "But, Rianxan, don't believe anything that Axel said to you back there. Don't think about any of it. He was just trying to get a reaction out of you, simply because he knew he could it he tried hard enough. _None _of what he said is true; nothing. These feelings that I have for you are real. I would never pretend to be interested in someone, because it would be a cruel thing to do."

She felt his arms tighten around her, and she ignored the ache in her side as she closed her eyes and leaned wholly again him.

"Trust me when I say that, if I had my heart, you would have a place in it," he whispered in her ear, "But because I don't have a heart, you've taken a place in my soul, and that is enough for me."

At hearing those words, Ria felt all her irrational fears and questions leave her. After prodding Zexion's hands a bit, she managed to get him to loosen his arms so she could turn around. She watched him for a few silent moments, before wrapping her arms around his neck.

"I love you too, Zexion," she whispered in his ear.

_**x-x-x-x-x-x-x**_

"Be careful on this mission, Ria, please."

Pulling on one of her boots, Ria glanced up at Zexion. It was really too early for conversation; hell, it was too early to technically be _awake_. Normally, the hours between three and seven in the morning didn't exist for her. She was usually asleep during these hours, and considered them ungodly.

And she could only guess that Xaldin was probably a morning person. Besides the guessing, the only thing she knew for sure about him was that he was pretty damn scary with those weird sideburns on his face. Creepy…

"What's wrong? Is Xaldin dangerous or something?" she asked, pulling on her other boot and standing up.

Zexion handed her a small plate with a bagel on it, and shook his head. Ria immediately picked up one of the round halves and took a bite, extremely happy to find it was covered in cream cheese. Zexion was heaven, there was no other word to describe him. He thought of everything, and she loved him for it.

"No, he's not dangerous," Zexion explained. "He is actually one of the most competent and capable members. He's level-headed, thinks everything through, and can make good split-second decisions. You should listen to everything he says, and follow all of his orders. The dangerous part of this mission will be chasing down and catching the new species of Nobody. You only need to catch one, but new Nobodies are always difficult and wild when you first encounter them. They haven't yet realized what has happened to them, and don't accept that we are of higher rank than them until shortly afterward. Fighting them can be risky."

Ria watched him as she spoke, a little surprised by the information he was giving her. She was going to have to fight one of the lesser Nobodies?

"Just be careful."

Nodding, Ria finished the bagel quickly and pulled on her cloak.

"I will Zexion, don't worry," she replied, hugging him from behind. As she pulled away, he grabbing her arms and kissed her quickly, handing her a few elixirs once he let her go. She rolled her eyes and took one, while pocketing the others. She thanked him, though, because she really had no idea how long she was going to be hunting Nobodies with Xaldin.

Saying goodbye, she opened a portal and appeared on the edge of the City That Never Was. The street came to an end a few feet from her boots. She swallowed uneasily, and avoided looking over the edge into the vast chasm below. Spotting Xaldin nearby, standing with his arms crossed, she slowly walked over and nodded her head in greeting. Not sure what she should say, she waited. She hadn't really interacted with the man that much during her time in the basements.

He nodded in return, and lowered his arms.

"Are you ready to begin the mission, Number Fourteen?" he asked, his voice even.

"I am," she replied. Xaldin nodded again, and began walking down the road. She followed behind him until Memory's Skyscraper came into view, when she finally got up the courage to walk beside him. "I, um, hate to ask, but do we know where the new Nobody type is?"

He glanced over at her, and then focused his cobalt eyes on the street ahead. "No, we do not know where the new species is," he answered, "That is why we must search the City until we find it, and then capture one. Be prepared for a fight, Rianxan. With my wind element and your spirit, though, we should manage well. I hear you can stop an enemy with your magic?"

"I can, for a brief amount of time," she said, wondering why he asked. It began to rain lightly, then, and Ria pulled her hood over her head.

"That trick will help us, I think, when the time comes to finally catch the Nobody," he said. Xaldin halted, then, and looked around. "Let's start at the top of Memory's Skyscraper. Perhaps we will be able to see something from there."

Ria only nodded, realizing that it could be quite a while before the mission was complete.

_**

* * *

**_Sorry that it's a little short. The next chapter will be longer, I promise! 

YES, I totally went there! I had Ria say the words! Actually, I was planning on keeping those three words out of the story, because they're used really often. Then I wrote that part, and was like "How would Ria reply to Zexion?" and gave into my instincts and wrote the words. Woohoo!

I'm sure some of you are wondering what actually happened during Zexion and Ria's trip to Twilight Town a few chapters back. Well, I can say that you will eventually find out, but now right now. It's sort of a surprise. I'll say more about the it later on, near the end of the story.

Reviews?


	27. Chapter 27

Alright, here is Chapter 27! I definitely had fun writing this, though it is still a little short. The next one will be longer, I promise!

I own nothing except Ria.

THANK YOU for all the awesome reviews. :)

* * *

**The Spirited Reverie**

**By**

**LadyDarkDreamer**

* * *

**Chapter 27:**

The rain was falling hard now, and Ria's footsteps barely echoed on the hard streets as she ran. Her weapons in her hands, her boots slid on the wet pavement as she halted, seeing a flicker of white in the corner of her eye. Looking quickly, she spotted something moving down a tiny alleyway nearby. She followed it, and threw one of her fans as she recognized the new type of Nobody she and Xaldin had been chasing for the last three days. The fan points caught the thing's shoulder and embedded in the building wall, and the Nobody's head jerked in her direction before it slipped away.

Cursing, she summoned her fan to her hand and continued the chase. The alley came to an abrupt end in the dark, though, and the Nobody disappeared in a flash of white.

"Damn," she muttered, shaking herself to get the water off her coat. It cascaded to the ground, and she portaled up to a nearby roof to get a better look of her surroundings.

_It got away again, Xaldin,_ she thought, sending it to the man, _Disappeared before I could cast the spell._

Somewhere nearby, she knew that Xaldin was flying around on his lances, using his wind element. Actually, he used his lances to form something that resembled a dragon of sorts. It was actually really neat, but Ria hadn't comment on it. Xaldin didn't seem the type of guy that had the word 'cool' in his vocabulary. More likely, the proper word to use to describe his lance-dragon was 'interesting'.

As she walked along the edge of the roof, she moved one of the fans to her other hand, and pushed her hair out of her face. She was cold, tired, and starting to get annoyed with the mission. If they didn't catch this Nobody soon, she was going to be cranky.

Peering down into the side street below, she looked for any splotches of white that might be the wild lesser Nobody. Only when she felt something gently prod her lower back did she jump and whirl around, her weapons at the ready. She frowned though, as she realized that it had been one of Xaldin's lances that had poked her. She watched it for a few moments, wondering why Xaldin would send of his weapons to her.

The thing hovered in the air, then rose and came back down. She stepped back to avoid the blade as the weapon slowly spun in a half circle.

What exactly was she supposed to do?

As if impatient, the lance traveled in a 'U' shape and stopped behind her. Before she could react, the bar pushed against the backs of her knees with enough force to knock her backward. Ria let out a cry of surprise, and fell back only to find herself sitting on the middle of the lance. She gripped the weapon with both hands tightly as it began to rise in the air, and suddenly understood: this was Xaldin's way of bringing her to wherever he was. Maybe he had found the Nobody after she had lost it.

The wind picked up quite a bit around her, and her grip on the lance doubled as she shifted her seat and sat sidesaddle. The weapon shot off, carrying her with it, and she used a bit of her own magic to keep herself from falling off.

_**x-x-x-x-x-x-x**_

As Zexion looked around his bedroom, he sighed. A few of Ria's things were still scattered on the top of his dresser or on the floor, and he didn't have the heart to move them.

He rolled his eyes at the irony of that thought, and sat on the edge of the bed.

His eyes wandering around the room, and finally came to rest on a small white box on the floor. It was plain, and Zexion knew for a fact that inside was a puzzle. Ria had bought it for him on their spontaneous trip to Twilight Town, and he had been quite grateful. He loved puzzles, because they gave him something to do during his free time. But they had already completed the puzzle in the box together some time ago, and he had no desire to work on it again now.

He was appreciative of the gift from Ria, but some part of him still wondered why she had spent munny on him. Sure, it was normal for human beings who were involved to purchase each other things, but she and him were not normal. The question was a puzzle in itself, one that Zexion probably wouldn't find an answer for.

He had only started thinking about it recently, and, well…he wanted to do something special for Ria in return. As human and heartfelt—and silly—as it seemed, he wanted to do something nice for her, besides just show his affection to her through embraces and kisses. Part of him knew that Ria was happy with just that alone, but…he still wanted to do something for her.

But what to do?

The thought of buying something for her entered his mind. It was immediately followed by the realization that he didn't have much in the way of munny.

But if he could find something affordable that he thought Ria would like, what would it be?

Jewelry immediately entered his mind, but that was expensive. And besides, he had noticed that Ria never wore any jewelry besides her two necklaces. Well, where did that leave him?

Zexion sighed; as intelligent and educated as he was, his really couldn't understanding how the female mind worked. Sure, he was in love with one, but…it was one of the age-old questions that would never be truly answered. One could only try and learn.

Well, that certainly left him in the dark. What the hell was he supposed to do?

Suddenly, a single thought entered his mind, and he shook his head. It was ridiculous, utterly ridiculous.

But it was the only semi-reasonable idea he'd come up with so far.

So, standing up, he ran a hand through his hairand opened a dark portal.

Though he didn't really like Demyx all that much, for some reason Ria considered the musician one of her best friends. Maybe Demyx could help him out with an idea of how to surprise Ria; either that, or he would laugh. And if that didn't work, Zexion would go to Larxene as a last resort.

_Kingdom Hearts help me_, he thought.

A few minutes later, he found himself standing in the middle of Demyx's room. It was surprisingly clean…except, of course, for the disaster area of paper that covered nearly every bit of floor. A few were blank, while most were covered in writing, and some had music notes scribbled on them. Demyx, meanwhile, was sitting on his bed, his blue sitar in his lap as he gave Zexion a curious look.

"You want _what_, now?" the blonde asked.

Zexion sighed, and shifted a bit. Why had he done this, again?"

"I want to do something special for Ria," he explain slowly, "But I'm having trouble coming up with an idea. You're friends with her, so I hoping maybe you had some suggestions?"

Demyx looked surprised at this, and much to Zexion's horror, laughed lightly as he set his sitar to one side. Seemingly defeated, Zexion shook his head and turned to leave, silently hoping that Demyx would not tell everyone in the Organization of this meeting.

"Hey, wait a second, Zexion!" Demyx called. Zexion turned to find the blonde standing, a smile on his face.

"Yes?"

"I think it's really cool that you want to do something nice for her," Demyx admitted. "I don't know how much of a help I can be, though."

Zexion watched him for a moment, and then sighed.

"Maybe Larxene would help? She's female, and as much of a sadist as she is, I'm sure she would have a few ideas if you asked her," Demyx suggested.

Grimacing, Zexion shook his head. "I thought of that, but I really would rather avoid talking to her if I can. More than likely, she would use the encounter as blackmail, and I would rather not owe her anything."

Demyx nodded, and Zexion waited as he blonde scratched his head. After a time, he said, "Well, why not just go to Twilight Town and wander through some of the shops? I'm sure something will come to mind. Girls tend to like cute things, I think. Plus, if the gift is coming from you, she'll love the idea and the gesture of you doing something special for her, not just the gift itself."

The sitarist's suggestion surprised Zexion, but he nodded as he considered it. What could it hurt to just look around Twilight Town?

_**x-x-x-x-x-x-x**_

Xaldin had spotted the Nobody, it seemed, and formulated a plan. The lance Ria was currently sitting on would drop her near the street where the Nobody was currently wandering, and she would give chase and drive it to a point where Xaldin was waiting. Xaldin would then block the Nobody's escape with his wind and lances, and Ria would use her magic to freeze the Nobody in place. As the higher ranking and more powerful Organization member, Xaldin would then…well, she wasn't actually sure what he was going to do. Perhaps speak to the Nobody in the whispery, almost static-like language they used. Either way, they would bring the Nobody back to the Castle.

As the lance came to a stop, Ria looked down and caught sight of the lesser Nobody moving below.

Looking around, she found she was several yards above the rooftops of the nearest buildings. She took a deep breath, a little nervous about dropping down from such a height.

But the plan was formed, so, better now then never.

Sending a thought to Xaldin, Ria let go of the lance and dropped off the weapon. She fell quickly, the wind and rain whipping around her as she descended. Using her magic, she controlled her fall and landed in the street without mishap. A second later, she called her weapons as the Nobody turned to face her. It watched her, despite the fact it didn't have eyes, and suddenly took off in the opposite direction.

Giving chase, Ria followed a decent distance behind the white being so that it wouldn't feel the need to disappear. It hesitated as the road forked, so Ria threw one of her fans by its right side. The creature turned left quickly, and Ria followed.

As she rounded the corner, the wind picked up and several of Xaldin's lanced shot down and stuck in the pavement. As the Nobody stopped and turned, Ria focused her magic and was about to send the spell when several more similar Nobodies appeared in the street.

She stopped, but was immediately forced to jump back as the creatures converged on her. She flipped over one's head, slashing with her fans and blocking another attack. Flinching as one hit her, she pushed it back and attacked until it disappeared. Two more followed, and the original one attacked her hard, pushing her back into the wall. One fan fell from her hand, but Ria managed to gather her power and freeze the Nobody as it turned to disappear.

Breathing hard, Ria focused on keeping the Nobody still, even though it was quickly sapping her magic power. Getting out an elixir from her pocket, she downed it as Xaldin drifted down and landed on the street. He began walking towards her, nodding as he faced the Nobody.

_I want to go back to the Castle, _Ria thought to herself bitterly, glaring up at the thick cloudy sky.

Xaldin began rapidly whispering to the Nobody, even as she fought to keep the spell going. A few minutes later, he finally gave her to signal to let the creature go. When she dropped the magic, the Nobody looked over and considered her with its gray features, coming over to study her more closely. It was a little unnerving, the way it watched her. Ria tried to ignore it as she picked up the fan she had dropped, and disappeared her weapons. Xaldin's weapons disappeared as well, and she nearly jumped up happily when he announced they would be returning to the Castle.

She checked the urge, though, when Xaldin mentioned that they would be walking.

As if to laugh at her, it began to rain harder. Ria sighed and pulled her cloak closely around herself. She could feel the rainwater soaking into her jeans and dripping down the neckline of the coat, and it bothered her. She was going to be soaked by the time they got indoors.

And, of course, she was. She was resisting the urge to shiver though, as Xaldin left her to bring the new Nobody to Xemnas. Not feeling particularly social at the moment, Ria decided she would avoid the other members and tackle the issue of rebuilding the meeting room. If she didn't do it now, she'd have to later. She hadn't had sleep in nearly three days, but hey, who was counting?

Exhausted and a little moody, she went to the meeting room and surveyed the damage. After some consideration, she took of her cloak and decided that there was no way she could replace the broken marble in the ceiling. Even with her magic, it would be in danger of falling, and she wasn't an expert on architecture.

So, she took another elixir and used her fans to tear down the rest of the damaged ceiling. She then moved the marble chunks piece by piece through a portal, dropping them through an exit portal over the chasm beneath the Castle. Once all the rubble was gone, she somehow managed to call a couple of Dusks to help her sweep and smooth out the walls with plaster.

Five hours later, upon inspecting the ceiling of what had once been the room above, Ria discovered it was slanting downward. Curious, she portaled above it to see what was on the other side, and nearly slid off a random roof of the Castle. She caught herself before falling over the edge, though, and managed to find a place to sit. She watched the sky for some time, and finally decided she was done.

Using the last of her energy to portal to Zexion's room, she was on her way to take a hot shower when she noticed something sitting on the bed.

Curious, she walked over and found that it was a stuffed animal of sorts. It was a light tan color, with bright red highlights and spiky paws and hair. Its eyes were a light blue. After a moment, Ria suddenly realized it was a moomba. Such a creature had only existed in stories in her world.

She found herself smiling. Why was there an adorable moomba plushie on Zexion's bed?

"I wanted to do something special for you," a familiar voice said. Ria turned around, and found Zexion standing in the bedroom doorway.

"You got this for me?" she asked, surprised.

Zexion nodded. "I wasn't sure what to do, so I went to Twilight Town and saw this, and immediately thought of you when I did."

She looked at Zexion, and then over at the moomba again. Her smile widened, and any negative emotions she had left over from the mission and cleaning the meeting room faded. Despite the fact she was soaked with rainwater, a little grungy and tired, she turned and pounced on Zexion.

The schemer hadn't been expecting the action, and as he caught her, he lost his balance and they fell. Both hit the ground on their sides, Ria half on top of Zexion. Zexion laid on his back and groaned, and Ria laughed as she cuddled against him. She pressed herself against his side, her legs resting across his lap. When he turned to glare at her, she just smiled at him and cuddled closer.

"Thank you," she said, her voice genuine and she settled her head on Zexion's chest. She felt him sigh, and her smile widened as his arms wrapped around her.

"I buy you a gift, and I get tackled in return," he finally replied. "That's your idea of a 'thank you'?"

She laughed. "I did _not _tackle you, Zex, I pounced on you. There's a difference."

"There is? Because it seems to me that either way, one ends up lying on the floor."

"There is a difference, I promise you," she countered, "If I had tackled you, I would have just gotten off the floor afterwards and gone to take a shower. But I pounced on you, which means that I fully intend to stay here and be cuddly until I decide to get up."

Zexion scowled, but she could tell he was being playful. "Okay, you're logic is very flawed. Now please, let me up; your coat is starting to get my clothes wet."

Ria smiled, and when he attempted to move, she quickly sat up and pinned him.

* * *

Again, sorry for the shortness...this chapter was a little odd to write, but fun. The next will be MUCH better! 

Reviews?

Alright, here's a little news: **once this story is completely finished, I'm going to write a oneshot about what happened during the Twilight Town trip. So, be on the lookout for that later on. :)**


	28. Chapter 28

YAY, thank you for all the reviews, guys! You rock!

Anyway, here is the next chapter. Enjoy!

I own nothing but Ria/Ariann.

* * *

**The Spirited Reverie**

**By**

**LadyDarkDreamer**

* * *

**Chapter 28:**

Xemnas was truly insane, it seemed.

Ria pushed her hair out from in front of her face, and carefully stepped across the slanted roof. After waking up that morning and having breakfast with Zexion, she had gone to Xemnas to inform him that she had cleaned up the meeting room. Of course, he had opened a portal to see for himself, and had spent nearly ten minutes staring up at now twice-as-high ceiling. After what seemed to be some consideration, he had told her that skylights would be a great addition to the room. She had just stood there, shocked and surprised, until Xemnas had left.

Skylights.

He wanted her to install bloody freaking _skylights _in the slanted ceiling. She didn't even know_ how_ to go about completing that task.

So, she had gone to Zexion and asked his advice. He was an intelligent young man, so surely he could figure out a way she could put skylights in the ceiling. Well, he had been just as horrified by Xemnas's request, and had taken her to visit Lexaeus. According to him, Lexaeus was one of the strongest Organization members, and knew the most about building things.

He had been quite helpful, actually. Together they had come up with a decent plan, which had begun with a trip to Twilight Town to use Organization funds to purchase four decent sized skylights. Ria hadn't known that you could, in fact, buy whole windows to put in the ceiling from a hardware store.

And so, Ria and Zexion had found themselves navigating the dangerous roof above the meeting room. Zexion had marked out perfect rectangles with a thick red pen, evenly spaced apart. And she had then carefully cut out the blocks with her fans and dropped them into the endless gorge beneath the Castle. Now, they were carrying and setting the last skylight into place, Ria using her magic to keep them safe. Having already coated the area around the hole with a waterproof adhesive Lexaeus had given them, they gentle dropped the window into place.

Finally finished, Ria sat down on the slanted roof and took a deep breath. When Zexion sat down beside her, she rested her head on his shoulder.

"Thanks for helping me, Zexion," she said, closing her eyes. Despite the fact she had slept deeply the night before, she was still pretty exhausted. Three days without sleep, even when one was a Nobody, was tough on a person.

She felt Zexion wrap an arm around her waist, and she began to drift off as she snuggled closer.

"Ah, how touching."

The loud, slightly sarcastic voice woke Ria, and she sat up abruptly and looked over her shoulder. To her surprise, she found Marluxia standing there; besides Xaldin and Vexen, this man with the brownish-pink hair was the only other member she hadn't had a lot of contact with.

"Is there something you want, Marluxia?" Zexion asked evenly, turning to give the man a hard look.

Marluxia just crossed his arms and dismissed the look. His eyes drifted from Zexion to Ria, and he pointed at her with a finger.

"I came for her," he said simply, "Xemnas ordered me to check on how the new skylights were coming. It seems you two have done a fairly decent job."

"Thanks," Ria said, mimicking the cynical tone he had started with. She stood up and turned, giving Marluxia a questioning look as she put her hands on her hips. "Anything else?"

He scowled. "I'm also supposed to tell you that you have another mission tomorrow. You and I are to walk through the City and dispatch of any Heartless we encounter, to lower their numbers. I expect to see you in the morning."

With that, he opened a dark portal and left.

Ria sighed dramatically, and sat back down beside Zexion. "Great, another stupid mission," she muttered, flipping her hair back. "I should have just left Axel alone; if I had, I wouldn't be in this mess."

Zexion shook his head. "I agree that leaving Axel alone would have been wise, but you had a good reason for fighting him. He initiated the fight, and he paid the price for flaring your temper like that. Hopefully he'll think twice before messing with you again," he replied, pulling her close. "Besides, Xemnas will run out of missions as punishment eventually. And you have until tomorrow before you go hunting Heartless with Marluxia."

Sighing again, Ria caught his gaze. "And what exactly am I supposed to do for the rest of the day?" she asked, "For me, sleeping sounds like a grand option right now."

To her surprise, Zexion smiled. "If you sleep now, you might end up staying awake the entire night. You can sleep when evening actually comes, but for now, I'm sure there are other things you can do."

Sitting up a bit, Ria gave him a look. She knew that smile.

_**x-x-x-x-x-x-x**_

"Damn," Axel whispered, hitting the wall with his open palm.

Immediately, he whirled around and began pacing up and down his living room. His walk was fast and fiery, and he paid little attention to where he was actually going. When a coffee table entered his path, he simply kicked it out of the way. Gritting his teeth, he continued pacing. Meanwhile, Roxas sat quietly on the sofa, watching the redhead.

"Axel, maybe you should calm down," he said coolly, hoping his friend wouldn't take the comment the wrong way.

Days after the fight with Rianxan, Axel was still enraged at the fact that the young woman had beaten him. For heaven's sake, she had destroyed nearly three-quarters of the ceiling and _dropped_ it on the pyro in an attempt to end the fight. And still, Roxas didn't know how to feel about it, didn't know what exactly he should say to Axel. On one hand, he had nearly panicked when the marble had fallen on Axel. He had been very worried until the older man had appeared in a portal, looking terrible, but alive. Roxas felt as though he should hate Ria for putting a person he cared about danger.

Then again, he did _not_ agree with what Axel had said to the girl. The words had been false and harsh, and Roxas had been surprised that Axel would say such horrible things. He knew Axel liked to pick on the other members and drive them up the walls, but the way he had treated Ria was…

Sighing, Roxas watched Axel pace back and forth another three times.

"Will you just _sit down_, Axel?" he demanded, his tone clipped. He jumped a bit when the redhead stopped his pacing, and quickly turn to face his friend.

"No Roxas, I don't want to sit down!" Axel said, clenching his teeth, "I was humiliated four days ago in front of the entire Organization! Everyone saw me fight our dear _Number Fourteen_ and lose to her! She dropped half the damn ceiling on me in the process, and I returned looking like hell and limping. I was limping, Roxas, I could have _died_. And what does Xemnas give her as punishment? A couple of stupid missions and rebuilding the meeting room! He didn't kick her out of the Castle, turn her into a Dusk or anything!"

Axel continued to rant, and Roxas wasn't entirely sure what to say. So, he just listened, knowing that Axel would run out of steam eventually. At least, he hoped the pyro would.

When Axel stopped speaking though, Roxas realized his friend was waiting for him to speak

"I'm…sure that Xemnas gave out punishments he thought were fit for the situation, Axel," he replied.

Axel's green eyes narrowed to dangerous points, and his visibly tensed.

"She dropped a fucking ceiling on me, Roxas! Whose side are you on?!"

Crap, there was that dreaded question. Roxas dropped his eyes to the ground, and fidgeted uncomfortably as his thoughts scrambled fiercely to come up with a good answer. He took too long though, it seemed.

"Roxas?"

The blonde sighed heavily, and raised his blue eyes to meet Axel's. "Ax, I don't know what to tell you," he confessed, "I was scared when the ceiling fell on you, that I'll admit. Ria shouldn't have gone that far during the fight, but…" he paused, because Axel was watching him so intently. Roxas had the strange feeling that this was some sort of test, one that he couldn't win. After a moment, he continued, "You shouldn't have prompted her, Axel. I know you like to bother everyone, but you went too far with Ria. Your words were really hurtful, and I hate to say it—" he took a breath here, realizing he might as well say everything "—but she was justified in attacking you. You brought it on yourself."

Axel's eyes flashed with several emotions, and Roxas tried to ignore the urge to slide to the far end of the sofa. The redhead's hands clenched into fists at his sides, and Roxas could have sworn he felt the temperature in the room rise several degrees.

"So you're taking her side, now?" Axel demanded, his voice rising as he spoke, "You're taking her side, when I was the one humiliated and injured! What the hell, Roxas?! I thought you loved—"

"I am NOT taking her side, Axel," Roxas shouted suddenly, standing up and facing his friend. "I am not taking any side in this, because both of you made mistakes and contributed to the fight. And do _not_ be a petty ass and bring our relationship into this. Don't do it, because you'll regret it later. What's going on between us has no connection to the grudge you have against Ria, which I feel the need to say is incredibly stupid and pointless. Why the hell can't you two be friends?! Trying to make me choose between you and her is a low move, Axel. You need to calm down."

"I need to calm down, Roxas?!" Axel yelled back. "I was insulted by what happened, and it'll take everyone forever to forget it! And at least part of what I said to her is true! She doesn't belong here! Thirteen members is more than enough for this damn Organization, and we don't need to be taking in more! Ria is the lowest of us, and therefore unimportant. Xemnas shouldn't have brought her here in the first place."

Roxas stood suddenly, his face hard as he stared at Axel. The two watched each other, breathing hard from shouting, until Roxas finally said, "I was the lowest ranking member before Rianxan came, Axel. Did that make me unimportant?"

To his surprise, Axel's face fell, losing its anger. Things flashed across his eyes, and Roxas knew that Axel had realized his mistake.

Tired of the argument and Axel's refusal to act rational, Roxas ended the staring contest and headed for the door. He didn't bother looking over his shoulder, until Axel called his name.

"Roxas, I didn't mean…that has nothing to do with—"

He shot his friend a harsh look. "I care about you, Axel, and you're a good guy, but you make rash decisions sometimes."

Not waiting to hear Axel's reply, he opened the door and left, walking down the corridor to clear his mind.

Meanwhile, Axel was at a loss for words. His hands relaxed at his sides, and his chin fell as he closed his eyes. But then he thought back to the fight with Ria, and all the things Roxas had said, and his anger rose again. He gritted his teeth, and let some of his fire element engulf his hands. Then, glancing down at the fire, he smiled.

He knew for a fact that Ria would be gone all of tomorrow, on a mission with Marluxia. That would give him just enough time.

Inspiration was surely a brilliant flame of some kind.

_**x-x-x-x-x-x-x**_

Tightening her grip on her fans, Ria spun and slashed, taking out several Heartless with her. The only type she and Marluxia were dealing with were Shadows, and the occasional Neoshadow. She kicked another one away from her leg, performing a cartwheel as Marluxia swung his scythe in a full circle. As she returned to her feet, she eyed the weapon and reminded herself again to give it a wide berth. She didn't want to get clipped by the edge.

Cutting down another Shadow, she continued moving through the dark masses, keeping them away from her as she went. She knew that she wasn't in any actually danger though, since she didn't have a heart for them to steal.

Zexion had told her that the Heartless usually left Nobodies alone, unless a Nobody initiated an attack. She wasn't sure exactly how many Heartless she had killed so far, but she didn't really care. She personally hated the creatures because of what they had done to her. It was their fault she had lost her heart, and that her world was gone.

Actually, Ria was enjoying this mission a bit. She wasn't running around observing some world, or fetching supplies for Vexen. She had something she could do, something to keep her busy for awhile. True, she didn't exactly know how long she was going to be out here fighting, but it was soothing in its own way.

Slicing at another Shadow, Ria quickly drew her hood up as it slowly began to rain, her thoughts drifting as she fought.

_"Strange weather," she muttered, her glance fell from the sky to the sidewalk at her feet. She didn't even bother pulling up the hood of her jacket._

_It was raining again, just a little bit. The clouds were a very light gray, casting only slight shadows on the ground. At some points between the clouds, the sun shone through, spotlighting the city in some places._

_It really was a beautiful city, especially in weather like this. The rain didn't bother her so much, since it was only falling a little. By the time she got home, her hair would be a little messy from the water, and the bottoms of her jeans would have a candlewick effect from the liquid they soaked up. There had actually been a storm the night before, so deep puddles covered the ground in places._

_Her small messenger bag moved back and forth against her right hip as she walked, her hands in her pockets. Sidestepping a puddle, she concentrated on the path that would lead her home, unconsciously moving around people and objects. She listened to bits of conversation as she passed, and smiled as someone passed by walking a very beautiful white dog._

_A few minutes later, the rain picked up as she turned a corner. She looked up as she realized there were no more voices, no footsteps or shop doors opening and closing. As she lifted her head, she was surprised to find that the street was empty._

_Glancing over her shoulder, she found the street behind her completely silent as well._

_What was going on?_

_As she looked forward again, she gasped and jumped back. Standing, in the middle of the street, was a small black creature._

_It began to approach, watching her with strange yellow eyes. Then, it melted into the ground, become like a shadow as it slid towards her. As the thing drew near and reformed, she kicked it away as hard as she could. The creature flew and rolled, disappeared into a storm drain. She let her arms fall to her sides, and surveyed the street again._

_She nearly cursed as she found the street full of the same dark creatures. All were watching her._

_Turning to leave, she stumbled as she spotted more of the things blocking her path. What the hell were these things?_

_Almost immediately, the black creatures began to swarm towards her. Her uncertainty began to change to fear, and she looked around for some sort of escape route. Seeing only an alley nearby, she ran towards it. Unfortunately, the alley ended in a brick wall, so she quickly looked around and spotted a walking stick of some kind. Grabbing it, she held it tightly as the creatures began to enter the alley._

_They were on her in seconds, leaping at her feet. She swung the stick, knocking a few back only to have more take their place. One jumped near her elbow and she hit it away, stumbling back and losing her balance. She scrambled to her feet, but fell to her hands and knees as she tripped over another of the creatures. The stick flew from her hands and skittered across the concrete._

_Rolling over on her back, she pushed away the approaching things and tried to get to her feet again. But the creatures leapt on her chest. They continued attacking, and she screamed as she felt pain in her heart. She fought to move the yellowed-eyed fiends, only to gasp for breath before blacking out._

Another Heartless disappeared in a waft of black smoke, and Ria stalked towards another.

She may not have her heart, but she still had her memories. She was not wholly the same person she was before becoming a Nobody, but she would never forget her past life. Besides, she had something now that she would never give up, even for the chance to get her old life back.

She had Zexion.

**_x-x-x-x-x-x-x _**

That night, Ria pulled off her gloves and stuffed them into one of her cloak pockets. She would write a mission report for Xemnas once she had showered and gotten some food. Then, she would find Zexion and see what he was up to. Maybe she would even go visit Namine and see how the girl was doing.

Halting outside the door to her room, she pushed her hood back and set her hand on the doorknob.

She was looking at the water droplets on her boots as she opened the door, and as she looked up, her eyes widened and her breath caught in her throat.

* * *

I forgot to say this last time, but I absolutely LOVE moombas. I first saw them in Final Fantasy 8, and they are SO CUTE. :) 

Reviews?

Alright, we're into the last quarter of the story here, guys. I'm not sure how many more chapters there will be, but I'm predicting about maybe...five or six more. I could be wrong, though. Also, I know nothing about installing skylights. xD I just guessed on that part. Oh, and I put the language in the scene between Roxas and Axel because I felt it was needed. Sorry about that. :P


	29. Chapter 29

Alright, here is the next chapter! Sorry it's a little late; I've been working on my newest story, and got a little caught up in it. Enjoy!

Thank for the reviews, guys. :)

I own nothing but Ria...and her moomba plushie. xD

* * *

**The Spirited Reverie**

**By**

**LadyDarkDreamer**

* * *

**Chapter 29:**

Having sensed her return to the Castle, Zexion had decided to find Ria before she came searching for him. He had expected to find her in her room, probably showering or having some food before she wrote her mission report.

Zexion had not expected to find her on her knees, tears falling down her pale cheeks as she looked blankly into the open door of her room.

His stomach clenched, his first thought being that something had happened to her. The Heartless had worn her out, Marluxia hadn't been looking when he swung his scythe and accidentally hit her, she had fallen off Memory's Skyscraper…he rushed to her side, kneeling beside her and gripping her shoulder with one hand. The other found its way to her face, wiping away one line of tears as he searched her eyes for _something_.

"Ria? Ria, what's the matter?" he asked, his voice filled with worry. She didn't answer, and her eyes didn't even register his presence. Gripping her shoulder tightly, he tried again, putting force into his voice, "_Rianxan._"

Her gold-green eyes slowly moved, looking from left to right before lifting and focusing on his face. She leaned her cheek into his hand.

"How could anyone do this?" she asked, her voice barely a whisper.

"How could anyone do what, Ria? Who?" he questioned, desperately wanting to help her. When her eyes drifted past him, through the doorway, he turned halfway and gasped.

Her suite of rooms was in ruins. The walls of the living room were black with soot, and ashes and debris covered the once beautiful wood floors Ria had insisted on installing. The smoke in the air was thin, and there was more drifting in from the bedroom doorway. The damage was terrible, and from the looks of it, the suite had been set on fire recently. Zexion did not dare leave Ria's side, so he could only guess that the bedroom and bathroom where in equally ruined conditioned. Which meant that all of Ria's belongings, save those few she kept in his own quarters, were gone. Zexion felt his anger rise, because the only person who could have done such damage was—

"Axel," Ria said, her voice hardening as she slowly stood. Zexion followed her, but didn't touch her as he watched fury flash in her eyes. "He did this. Why? Why would someone do this?! What kind of person destroys everything someone has?!" Her voice rose to a shout then, and she scream in frustration before covering her face with her hands.

She fell against the wall, sinking to the floor until she sat with her knees to her chest. More tears came, and Zexion quickly kneeled beside her, gently embracing her.

"What am I going do to?" Ria asked desperately, through sobs, "Where will I stay? I have no other place to go."

She shook then in his arms, and Zexion pulled her closer to him. He knew her words were said in an emotional state, and that she wasn't thinking rationally, but he didn't care. He wanted to say something to reassure her, to let her know that she was _not_ alone in the world.

"You can stay with me, Ria. I promise," he whispered, his voice soothing.

As he held her and tried to calm her down, he flinched as familiar laughter filled the corridor. His head jerked up, and he glared hatred at the redhead sauntering down the hallway towards them. Axel had done this; he was the reason Ria was crying in his arms, on the floor outside her ruined apartment.

Why would Axel do something like that to a person?

Revenge, perhaps, because Ria had humiliated him days ago in the meeting room.

"Ahh, Zexy, what are you doing here?" Axel asked lightly, smirking, "I expected you to stay away, to leave her when she broke down. Why would you want to stay with someone as pathetic as Number Fourteen? How can you care for someone like her?" His tone was mocking, and Zexion despised him for it.

He felt Ria tense in his arms, and she slowly began to stand. He stood with her, moving so that he was standing halfway in front of her as she turned to face Axel. He wanted to keep himself between her and Axel, just in case. Part of him suspected that something bad would happen if he didn't.

For some reason, Larxene and Lexaeus were now standing at the end of the hallway nearby, looking confused as they watch the scene before them. Zexion ignored them, though, and realized that both Ria and Axel's scents were rising in the air, their power thickening. He glanced over his shoulder at Ria, and found her staring down the redhead, her face stained with tears.

"What, no answer?" Axel teased, tilting his head and waiting.

Before Zexion could react, Ria had swung past him swiftly and summoned her fans into her hands. She leapt at Axel without missing a beat, only to be knocked back as the pyromaniac summoned his chakrams and blocked her attacked. She stumbled backward, regaining her balance and taking her fighting stance.

"Why did you do it, Axel?" she demanded, "Why?!"

Axel just laughed and twirled one chakram. "You humiliated me in front of everyone, Catty. You needed to be put in your place before you started thinking too highly of yourself."

Her grip tightened on her fans, and Ria took the offensive once again. She went to slash at Axel's stomach, only to spin past him as he blocked. She sliced his back with an upward arch and jumped back as he cast a circle of fire around himself. Axel turned and tossed his weapons at her, summoning them back as she sidestepped one. The other caught her arm, and she flinched. He rushed forward and swung horizontally with one chakram, and Ria blocked his attack with her fans.

The fight continued, and Zexion could only watch. Both Ria and Axel were moving too quickly for anyone to interrupt the battle and come out unscathed. He desperately wanted Ria to stop the fight, before she got hurt or Xemnas found out about this. He began to realize that Ria's attacks were becoming more and more frenzied and anger-driven, like she was focusing more on getting in any slash she could rather then strategizing and trying to catch Axel off his guard.

She dodged another swing from Axel and immediately slashed at an upward angle. Axel stepped forward and pushed her back, knocking one of her weapons from her hands. Before Ria could summon it back to her hand, Axel continued his assault and she fought to avoid the slashes and fire spells. Ria stumbled, and Zexion saw the tears still falling down her face and had enough of waiting. He ran forward, only to be restrained by a hand on his shoulder.

Anger filled his eyes, and he whirled to face the person holding him. He was surprised to find Larxene by his side, shaking her head. Lexaeus was there, too. When they had portaled over, he wasn't sure, but Roxas and Demyx had taken their place at the end of the hall.

Zexion quickly turned back towards the battle, and watched in horror as Ria fell backward. The wall was at her back, and the redhead in front of her. She gripped her one remaining fan and tried to drive Axel back, but he kicked it from her hand, and looked down at her.

"You don't belong here," he finally said, "Commit it to memory, Catty."

It didn't take but a moment for Ria to stand up and hurry away from Axel, no taking her eyes off him as she passed. Zexion moved to hold her, and Larxene let him go. As he pulled Ria close to him, his eyes fell on Axel.

"You are the lowest person in this Organization, Axel," he shouted at the redhead, scowling, "And burning down the place where somewhere lives is the lowest you can possibly get. What the hell were you—"

While his attention had been focused elsewhere, Ria had let out a sob and slipped from his arms, running down the hallway. He turned and saw her disappear into a dark portal, and tried to go after her, only to have Lexaeus grab his shoulder. He twisted out of the man's powerful grip, only to have Lexaeus grab his arm tightly. Larxene caught his gaze, none of her usually attitude in her eyes.

"Just let her be, Zexion, at least for now," she advised, her voice unusually soft. Zexion opened his mouth to say something, but Larxene shook her head.

Still, he said, "I really don't think she should be alone right now. I need to—"

"No, Zexion," Larxene continued, "Sometimes a girl just needs to be by herself, even when it seems illogical to those around her. Just give her some time, and she'll come to you when she needs your company. Trying to force her to do anything right now would _not_ be good."

Despite himself, Zexion looked to Lexaeus, who nodded. When the man slowly let his arm go, Zexion's eyes fell to the ground. Taking a deep breath, he looked down the hallway to where Ria had disappeared, silently hoping she would return soon. He didn't want to leave her alone.

When Lexaeus gently touched his shoulder, Zexion followed his colleague as the man led him to the kitchen. He sat down, trying to keep his mind blank, even as Lexaeus put a cup of hot tea before him.

_Ria, where are you?_ he thought, staring down into the cup.

_**x-x-x-x-x-x-x**_

As hot tears continued to trickle down her cheeks, Ria stumbled out of the portal and into the large street before Memory's Skyscraper. She lost her balance and hit the ground, not even bothering to pull up her hood as she realized it was raining fairly hard. When a Heartless watched her curiously, she growled and called her fans, tossing one at the creature.

It disappeared in a wisp of smoke, only to be replaced by a dozen more.

She called her fan back, and turned to face the dark Shadows that watched her. She silently challenged them to attack her, and as if in response, the first one leapt forward.

Ria fought hard, pouring her frustration, sadness and energy into each slash and attack. She could feel her power draining rapidly as she destroyed each and every Heartless she came upon, until finally, she collapse to her knees, breathing hard and exhausted.

Coughing, she shivered violently from the rainwater soaking through her clothing, and opened another portal as a Shadow came near.

Rising to her feet, she staggered through the portal, closing it behind her.

**_x-x-x-x-x-x-x _**

As Axel turned, a triumphant smirk on his face, he froze as he realized Roxas was standing at the end of the hallway

His face fell as he saw Roxas's eyes, and he stepped forward to explain himself.

Before he could even speak though, Roxas held up his hand. He walked past his friend, and glanced into Ria's open door.

"What the hell are you thinking, Axel?" he asked, his voice low as he turned. "Are you just looking for someone to harass until you manage to drive them away? She hasn't done anything to you, and you're acting like it's war. Grow up, Ax."

With that, Roxas turned and left before Axel could even say a word.

And somehow, Axel's thoughts returned to everything Roxas had said to him before. And, for the first time, he felt guilt beginning to eat at him.

_**x-x-x-x-x-x-x**_

Zexion kicked a book across the room, letting out a sound of frustration as he paced. His cloak whipped at his ankles as he turned sharply, and walking the other way.

_Two days_. Ria had been missing for two freaking days. She hadn't made contact with anyone, and Zexion had been asking every person she normally spoke too. No one had seen her, no one had heard from her, and Zexion had even recruited Demyx and Larxene to help him search. They had scoured the entirety of the Castle That Never Was, and had not found her.

_Where are you?_ he thought desperately.

He knew that, even under the extreme circumstances she had left in, Ria would never disappear for two days straight. She wouldn't leave her friends, and especially himself, worrying about her constantly. She should have come back by now.

She should have.

Where the hell was she?

Zexion scowled, and marched towards the door. If she wasn't in the Castle, then she had to still be in the world somewhere, or at least in Twilight Town. Xemnas had found out about the fight yesterday, but had told him to simply wait for her to return on her own. Well, Zexion didn't want to wait, so he would go searching for her by himself. No one else in the Castle would have a better chance of finding her. Once he got close enough to wherever Ria was hiding, he would pick up the scent of her power and be able to find her.

Then again, having some help would be nice.

Okay, he would find Demyx and Larxene again, and even Lexaeus if the man would agree. Maybe he could even find Roxas.

At the thought of Roxas, his mind naturally drifted to Axel. It was the redhead's fault that Ria was missing, that all her belongings were now reduced to ash. The only thing she had left were a handful of clothes in his closet, the moomba plushie he had given her, a drawing from Namine, and a few pictures Demyx had taken with a camera one day. Everything else had been kept in her room.

Moving quickly, Zexion walked down the hallway to where several of the other member's rooms were. He stopped, though, when the scent of cinnamon came to him.

Looking up, he saw Axel staring at him down the corridor.

His scowl deepened, and Zexion simply walked by the man, not caring if he ran into him.

"Zexion, I—"

He shot Axel a scathing look. "Don't even speak to me, Axel," he spat, "Ria is missing, and it is _your_ damn fault. I don't have time to deal with your antics right now."

Zexion had only taken a step when Axel grabbed his arm. He pulled his arm from the redhead's grasp, and glared at him.

"If you would listen, Zexion—" Axel tried again, but Zexion but him off.

"I don't want to hear it!" he hissed, his voice dangerously low. "You've caused enough trouble, Axel, so just stop now. As a higher rank than you, I order you to stay away from me, and Ria, unless explicitly ordered to by another of your superiors. Now get out of my sight."

Opening a dark portal, he disappeared through it and closed it behind him. Opening it near the entrance to the Castle, he set off down street, suddenly not wanting any help from the other members.

When he reached Memory's Skyscraper, he searched the area thoroughly, but didn't sense any power he knew. He portaled to the top of the skyscraper, and looked around to make sure he hadn't missed any spot. Sighing, he portaled back down and continued walking, searching every street he could think of. He strained his power, searching for any trace of Ria's scent.

This continued for hours, until Zexion had finally returned the skyscraper and turned in a complete circle.

Taking a deep breath, he decided it was time to search Twilight Town. He opened another portal, and almost as soon as he set foot in the corridor of darkness, the scent of smoke and lilies overwhelmed him. It almost immediately began to fade, though, little by little.

Hope filled Zexion, as well as panic. A fading scent meant that the owner's energy was fading, and that possibly, so to was the owner.

No, Ria couldn't be fading; he refused to accept that idea.

Leaving the portal open, Zexion ran, follow the fading scent in the blackness of the corridor. After what seemed like a very long time, he spotted a figure lying in the dark. He slid to a stop, and dropped down beside Ria. He touched her shoulder and called her name, but she didn't move or wake up. He shook her gently, cursing when that didn't work either. She remained unconscious, her scent still very weak. So, he slid his arms under her shoulders and knees, and picked her up.

He walked quickly back to the portal he had left open, willing it to take him back to the Castle.

Minutes later, he ended up in the hallway near his room, and headed for it.

And much to his displeasure, he found Axel leaning against the wall outside his door, seemingly waiting for him.

Axel looked up upon hearing his footsteps. Surprise filled his green eyes, and…concern?

Zexion shook his head. There was no way the pyro could ever be _concerned _about the woman in his arms.

"Is…she okay?" Axel asked quietly as he approached. Zexion scowled at him, and kicked open his own door with some trouble. The thing swung open, and he immediately headed for his room. Once there, he set Ria on the bed and took off her cloak.

He then felt a presence behind him, and sighed. "What do you care, Axel?" he asked, turning. "It's your fault she's like this. I found her in one of the dark corridors, passed out and her power very weak. She could have faded away if I hadn't found her."

"Look, Zexion," Axel said, slightly irritated, "I just wanted to come, well…to say I'm sorry. I'm sorry for the fights, for the things I put her through. I can't explain anything or justify what I did in any way, so…I'm sorry, okay? I'm trying here, because I feel guilty for being terrible towards here. No one will talk to me anymore; not Roxas, Larxene, Demyx, or even Xigbar. I don't want to lose the few friends I have, and the only way I can think of to fix this is to make things right with you and Ria."

Zexion was caught off-guard by this suddenly change of heart, and suspected that maybe Axel was just faking it. But he was more worried about Ria at the moment than anything else, so he just said, "It's not me you need to apologize to, Axel; it's her."

Turning, he set to work pulling the covers over Ria, resting his hand on her forehead as he focused on her energy. She wasn't losing her sense of 'being' anymore, but her power was still weak.

"It there any way I can help?" Axel finally asked.

Zexion glanced over at him, and thought quickly. "Is there any way you could use your element to warm the room a little?"

Axel nodded, and set to work as Zexion cast a Curaga spell on her.

"Are you sure she'll be okay?" the redhead questioned.

Zexion just looked at him. "How would you feel if Roxas went missing and you found him like this? I love her, Axel, just like you feel something for Roxas," he replied. "And don't give me that look; I know nearly everything that goes on in this Castle, even when everyone else doesn't."

* * *

Awwwww, NO! It wasn't too rushed, was it? I did not have much fun writing this chapter, because the story is getting closer and closer to the end. :( But it had to happen, and now we know what Axel did. The next chapter will be much better, and the plot will return. Namine and Roxas will make an appearance, because the story is now turning more towards Roxas's missing memories, Xemnas's lies, and the eventual Castle Oblivion mission. 

Reviews?


	30. Chapter 30

WOW! I can't believe this story is really thirty chapters! Anyway, I know everyone is wondering what happened to Ria, so I'll keep this intro short. Enjoy!

I own nothing but Ria.

* * *

**The Spirited Reverie**

**By**

**LadyDarkDreamer**

* * *

**Chapter 30:**

Roxas had been lucky to catch Xemnas out of his office, and the blond worked quickly as he pulled out the normal books from the library off of Xemnas's selves. He quickly, but carefully put the Superior's journals and volumes back in their correct places, and took the rest of the books back to the library. He had had the journals for long enough, and knew all he was going to learn about the secret Xemnas had been keeping from him.

As he placed the ordinary books back in their places, his thoughts raced.

He hadn't trusted the higher ranking members—save for Axel and Demyx—that much to begin with, but now he mistrusted the original six a great deal. All of them, especially Xemnas, had been lying to him all this time. They had known the truth about his Somebody, and the truth about the Keyblade.

Yet with all this information, Roxas didn't have any idea about what he was supposed to do now. He knew all the secrets that had been kept from him, but he wasn't sure what to do with it. Actually, there was really nothing he _could _do with it, except think about it.

The frustrated him, that he couldn't do anything.

But perhaps the best thing to do was wait. Once thing he did not know about was Xemnas's plans for the girl named Namine. Would Xemnas try to capture Sora, and change the boy's memories so that he would serve the Organization? If so, when would such a plan take place? Would the other members be involved or even know of the plan?

Sighing, Roxas left the library and headed back to his room.

Yes, the only thing he could do was wait, and plan his own plots.

**_x-x-x-x-x-x-x _**

In her room, Namine swept her pencil in several curves, creating what looked like a black and white outline of a stain-glass window. She then began to fill in each of the individual pieces with a portrait of the Organization members.

She started with the woman called Rianxan, putting her near the bottom right of the page. Ria was a friendly person, as far as Namine could tell. She liked the young woman, because she seemed different from the rest. Though she lacked a heart, Ria was passionate about her memories and soul, and showed what remained of her emotions more openly than the others. She drew her looking upward, towards the sky, her catlike eyes far away.

Next came a portrait of Roxas, looking over his shoulder watchfully. Roxas often came to visit her these days, more than anyone else. They would talk about simple things, like what the other members were up to. Sometimes the boy just watched her sketch, and Namine always got the feeling that he wanted to ask her something. He never did though, and she silently wished he would. Perhaps next time, she would ask him what he was thinking.

The sketches of Larxene, Marluxia and Luxord she finished quickly, her thoughts about them few. Larxene was smirking, while Luxord looked as though he were considering something. Marluxia looked downward, his features calm.

Namine flew through the pictures after that, working carefully on the details of each person. Axel was gazing slightly to the side, and Demyx was smiling while Zexion looked stoic in the space between and right above them. Saix had his eyes closed and his chin slightly lowered, while Vexen, Lexaeus and Xaldin looked scientific, if that were possible. Xigbar was grinning down at the others, while Xemnas…he stared straight ahead, ignoring and taking in everyone at the same time.

As she colored the portraits, Namine recalled Vexen saying that she would be able to use her drawing skills to help her rearrange and change memories, when the time came for her too. Her pencils and sketchpad were to her what the other member's weapons were to them. It was a way for her to focus her power and influence the world around her.

Yet, Namine was reluctant to accept the idea that _she_ could change memories. They were precious and fragile things, not to be handled by anyone but their respective owners.

But then, why would she have such a power if she were not meant to use it? Surely there had to be a right and wrong way for it to be used, if she could only discover for herself which was which. Then again, if she learned through trial and error, what if she did something wrong? What if she ruined someone's remembrance of something important to them?

When she had asked Xemnas this question, he had only replied that with her help, she and everyone in the Organization to recover their hearts. They could be whole again, they could be human. Would she deny them the chance to become fully themselves again if presented with a chance?

She hadn't answered, then. She still wasn't sure what to think of her skill with memory.

Finishing off the picture, she turned the page and began on another, suddenly inspired.

_**x-x-x-x-x-x-x**_

"Her progress is astounding, Superior," Vexen said, "She sketches all the time, unconsciously drawing on the thought waves in the Castle for ideas. She doesn't realize it, of course, but I'm sure she will be able to consciously focus that awareness soon. That would allow her to influence the memories of Sora if she were in close of proximity to him, I believe."

Xemnas nodded, and listened to the blond scientist as he continued to explain all the experiments they had been performing in the lab. Once the man was finished, Xemnas dismissed him and focused his thoughts on the plan already forming in his mind.

His sources had informed him that the boy called Sora was currently revisiting all the worlds he had found, scouring them thoroughly. He was leaving no path unlooked, making sure all the inhabitants were safe and that the number of Heartless was down before he left. Usually, Sora and his odd companions spent the night at the world they were in, and frequently returned to Traverse Town for supplies. The Keyblade master was leveling up his power, making sure he was full prepared for the battle with Xemnas's own Heartless.

Yes, his powerful, thinking Heartless. Xemnas already knew that Sora would defeat the enemy, and save Kingdom Hearts from ultimate darkness as a result. And perhaps, when that time came, Xemnas would be able to gently nudge the boy in the direction he wanted the kid to go.

His plan was slowly coming to meet reality. It would be easy to lead the boy down the path Xemnas wanted him to take, one that would lead him right into the hands of the awaiting Organization.

There was another lair he had built a long time ago, a place known as Castle Oblivion. It was empty at the moment, protected by many powerful spells to keep away anyone who managed to wander within sight of it.

It would be a perfect place to draw Sora in, and use Namine to unchain the memories in his heart.

And then, they could use the Keyblader for their own purposes. He could have Namine place new or changed memories in Sora, ones that would make the boy trust the Organization and feel for their cause. They could then use him to destroy endless numbers of Heartless…

And, of course, Roxas would have to be kept in the dark about all of this. If Xemnas sent some of the members to Castle Oblivion to control Sora and keep an eye on Namine, he had to make it clear that they _could not _speak of the mission to the members that would stay behind. Roxas would be one of the members to stay, and Xemnas could always send the boy away for a period of time while he dealt with Sora.

There were still trivial problems to work out in the plan, but he would figure them out. There wasn't that much time left until Sora headed for the End of the World, so Xemnas would have to work fast.

**_x-x-x-x-x-x-x  
_**

Letting out a shuddering breath, Ria opened her eyes and slowly rolled over. She flinched as her muscles protested, and it took her a moment to realize she was covered in a sheet and blanket, and those covers smelled very familiar.

Her eyesight was blurry, though, but she still was able to make out the lines of Zexion's furniture. She saw a figure sitting in a chair near the bed, and squinted as she tried to make it out. She sat up, rested against the dark wood of the headboard, and rubbed her eyes. Her vision cleared and focused, and she looked over at the person lounging the chair.

Ria pushed herself to the far end of the bed as she recognized Axel.

Hearing her movement, Axel raised his head and looked in her direction. Ria froze, the memories of her last fight with him rushing back to her.

Wait, she had run away after that fight, leaving in a dark portal. She had then gotten lost in one of the corridors, crying, until she had collapsed. She should have still been in that corridor of darkness, but she wasn't. Instead she was here in Zexion's room, safe and warm. But Zexion was missing, and the one person in the Castle she disliked the most was sitting there, watching her as though he were…worried?

What the hell?

"Where's Zexion?" she demanded, letting her left hand fall off the edge of the mattress where Axel couldn't see it. If he tried anything, she could easily summon a fan into her hand and drive him back.

Axel moved to stand, but seemed to think better of it. He watched her for a moment, his fingers tightening on the armrests of the chair as he sighed.

"He went to tell Xemnas you had come back, and ended up being ordered to go to the lab," Axel explained, his voice calm, "He told me to watch you until he got back."

Ria frowned. "I didn't come back on my own," she said, a little confused. How had she gotten here?

"You've been unconscious for awhile now," he told her, shifting a bit. "I was waiting for Zexion outside his door when he showed up carrying you in his arms. He said he found you in a dark corridor, not moving and your power slowly fading."

Ria felt her gaze on him soften a bit, and she tucked her feet underneath her. So, Zexion had come after her; how long had she been gone?

"How long was I…?"

Axel blinked, and said, "Two days, and you've been out for the last twelve hours since he brought you back."

"Zexion's been in the basements for the last half-day?" she asked, frowning. When Axel nodded, she sighed and let her head gently hit the back of the headboard. When she looked at him again, she asked, "And you've been here all that time?"

"Yeah," was he reply.

Axel had been keeping an eye on her for the past twelve hours, as Zexion's request. That, to Ria, sounded very strange.

"Axel, you said before that you were waiting for Zexion. Why?" she asked carefully. So far, Axel didn't seem like he wanted to insult her or start a fight. What was going on here?

As she watched him, he fidgeted a bit and sat down lowered in the chair, and muttering something.

Against her better judgment, she scooted across the bed so that she could hear him better. Also, so it wouldn't seem like she was being rude when he was acting as gentlemanly as he seemed capable of. He was being...friendlier…than he had since she had first arrived, and it was genuine. She didn't want to ruin it.

"Sorry?"

"I wanted to apologize to you and Zexion," Axel said, his eyes darting around the room. When his gaze met her, she knew that he was being sincere. "Mainly to you, for everything I've done. I'm sorry for acting like an idiot, and…you know, picking fights and everything. I shouldn't have done that. I'm sorry, Ria."

Ria just sat there for a minute, shocked by the words she had just heard come out of Axel's mouth. The man was apologizing, and though it was said a little awkwardly, he wasn't forcing or faking it in any way. She would tell by the tone of his voice. He held her gaze for a little while longer, but dropped his head.

"I'm not sure what else to say," he continued, "I can't justify my actions, it that's what you want. I'm trying here, and it's hard. I'm losing friends Ria, and..."

At this, Ria held up her hand, and let out a breath before sliding her feet to the floor. She stood, a little shakily, and came to stand near where Axel sat. She extended her hand, which Axel looked at before carefully taking it.

"You don't have you say anything more, Axel," she said, offering him a small smile. He was putting forth the effort, so she would as well. Besides, wasn't it better for them to be at least tolerant of each other, instead of constantly fighting and putting everyone they knew on edge? Maybe, after some time, they could even be friends. "I'm sorry for everything, too," she continued, feeling it was the right thing to say, "About…bringing the ceiling down on you, and for the fights. They're as much my fault and they are yours."

Axel then stood, and they shook hands as she took a small step back to give him room. Letting his hand go, they stood there for several quiet moments.

Axel scratched his head. "We don't, you know, have to hug or anything, do we?"

Ria smiled. "I don't think so."

Suddenly feeling a little weak, Ria made her way back over to the bed and sat down. She brought her fingers to her hand, feeling the beginning of a headache coming on. Had Zexion been right, and her powers really had been fading when he had found her? Did that mean that she could have…_died_…if he hadn't come?

Oh goodness, that was a terrible thought.

"Oh, yeah," Axel said quickly, "Zexion said you give you this when you woke up." He handed her what she guessed was an elixir, and she sighed. She was so tired of constantly taking those blasted things. Still, she obediently took it and downed the liquid.

"So, um, do you want to go look for Roxas or something?" she finally asked. "You don't have to stay."

Axel grimaced a little, and shook his head. "Your lover threatened to give me to Vexen if I left before he got back. I owe you both since I caused this, and I really don't want to end up as a test subject for some of Vexen's experiments. That man is seriously scary."

Ria laughed a little, and shook her head. "He didn't seem that bad when I met him."

The redhead just stared at her. "Did you meet him alone, or with other people around?" he asked, his voice serious.

"Zexion, Lexaeus, Xaldin and Namine were there; why?"

It was Axel's turn to shake his head. "Never be alone in a room with him, if you can help it. And if you ever are and can't leave, threaten him if he tries anything," he advised, nodding in her direction.

Ria frowned, and tilted her head as she looked at him. "Dare I ask where this advice is coming from?"

"Nightmares, Catty. Nightmares," he said. For once, Ria didn't flinch at the nickname.

Suddenly curious, she asked, "Why _do_ you always call me 'Catty'?"

Axel smirked, and replied, "Because, you have catlike eyes, unless you haven't noticed." He then stood up, and stretched.

She snorted. "And you think I'm catlike," she mumbled, glaring back at Axel when he looked her way.

"Well," he said, "If you've got enough energy to be sarcastic, then you've got enough energy to get up and walk around. Since I'm in charge of babysitting you—and under the impending threat of being under the mercy of a crazed scientist if I do anything wrong—I'm taking to you get food. I think Demyx brought back some Chinese food last night."

She immediately perked up at the words 'Chinese food' and quickly stood up. She ventured a look down at her clothes though, and sighed as she found them very wrinkled. Going over the Zexion's closet, she grabbed one of his cloaks and put in on. When she turned, she found Axel looking a little guilty.

"I'm sorry about setting your things on fire," he said quietly.

Ria just shook her head, doing her best to let the memories go. "It's alright, pyro," she said, walking over to the door, "I can always get new stuff. And besides, this means I get to stay with Zexion all the time."

"You're going to drive him insane, woman."

"Aren't you supposed to be feeding me?" she countered, "I can always tell Zex you locked me in the closet and fed me bread under the door crack."

Axel shook his head, and herded her towards the hallway.

* * *

No, of course Ria can't die yet! I'm not sure how many more chapter are left, but we're almost to the end of the story. Once I know how many more are left, I'll be sure to let you guys know. And this actually raises the question, what WILL the ending of the story be? Ah, but I shall not tell, though I've actually had that last chapter written out for some time. 

FINALLY, she and Axel are on good terms! Hopefully that didn't seem rushed or anything. I'm so glad I don't have to write them fighting anymore. Zexion shall appear in the next chapter, definitely.

Reviews?

Thanks for reading. :)


	31. Chapter 31

Sorry for taking so long to update, everyone! The weather's been really nice here late, I guess since spring is finally here. It's awesome that's it's finally starting to warm up, but the transition sorta left me feeling like...I don't know, like I needed to take a short break for the writing. xD The updates will come on schedule (well, if my weird updating style could be called a schedule), so I'll say expect another update either tomorrow, or Wednesday.

I own nothing but Rianxan (AKA Ria/Catty).

* * *

**The Spirited Reverie**

**By**

**LadyDarkDreamer**

* * *

**Chapter 31:**

Happily eating the orange chicken and rice Axel had so nicely microwaved for her, Ria watched as Axel searched through the freezer for something sweet. As she sipped the hot raspberry tea she had bribed him into making, he pulled a bar of ice cream out and shut the door. He took the wrapper off, and Ria frowned as she realized the ice cream was blue.

"I hope you're not staring at me, because that would just be weird."

As Axel sat down across from her, Ria glared at him.

"I'm looking at the ice cream, genius," she replied, "It's blue."

Glancing at the ice cream bar in his hand, he looked at her with raised eyebrows. "Yeah, so?"

As he began to eat it, she shook her head and turned her attention back to her food. "Well, why is it blue?"

"It's sea salt ice cream, Catty," he replied, "It's supposed to be blue."

Sighing a little and rolling her eyes, Ria was halfway through her food when she heard footsteps echoing down the hallway. She drank some more of her tea, and glanced at the doorway of the kitchen as the steps grew closer. The sound of the steps seemed familiar, and she found herself smiling as she recognized the person passing by.

Standing quickly, she called out, "Zexion!"

Axel jumped in surprise, and Zexion turned as she ran across the kitchen and embraced him tightly.

The force knocked him back a step or two, and she rested her head on his shoulder when he returned the hug just as strongly.

A moment later, she suddenly felt terribly guilty for making him worry, for forcing him to come looking for her when she had run off. She should have come back, but instead she had pushed herself beyond her limits by fighting Heartless, and wandering through the dark corridors. At the same time, she also felt very grateful that he had been able to find her. If she had faded away in the corridor…

She shook her head, and pulled away so that she could look at him fully.

"I'm so sorry, Zexion," she began, her voice soft as her hands rested on his shoulders, "I shouldn't have left like that and made you worry, or I at least should have come back before—"

Zexion touched her cheek gently with one hand, and shook his head.

"Ria, it's alright, I promise you," he said, pulling her close, "The important thing is that you're still here."

It took a second for the words to sink into Ria's mind, but she finally burying her face in Zexion's shoulder. A moment later, she raised her head and whispered in his ear, "Thank you."

"Are you two finished yet?" Axel asked, his voice floating into the hallway.

Both she and Zexion sighed softly at the same time, and she half-smiled at him as she pulled away a little. Though his expression was calm, Ria could see the smile in his eyes. So, just to annoy Axel a little, she tilted her head up and kissed Zexion. He seemed surprised, but contentedly returned the kiss.

She heard Axel groan in the kitchen. "Please, whatever powers exist out there, save me! I don't need to see this!"

Pulling away from Zexion, Ria laughed. Taking his hand, she led him into the kitchen and sat down to finish the rest of her food.

"Thank you for helping me, Axel, but you really don't have to stay," she said after a moment, highly amused by the fact that the pyro had his head buried in his arms on the table. "You should go find Roxas and, I don't know…babysit him instead?"

At hearing this, Axel raised his head and looked at her with wide eyes, eyebrows raised.

"That suggestion could be taken in so many ways."

Zexion rolled his eyes, and stood up, walking over to the fridge.

"Only by you, Axel," she replied, spearing a piece of chicken with her fork. She waved towards the door with one hand as she chewed, and gave Axel a questioning look. Finally, the redhead smirked, and nodded. He stood up, glanced over and Zexion, and left the kitchen with his ice cream.

When Zexion returned with a bottle of water, Ria found the room oddly silent. She finished the rest of the chicken, and was about to finish the rice when she sent down her fork. Looking up, she watched Zexion for several moments.

When he finally noticed her watching, he caught her gaze, question in his eyes.

"Thank you, Zexion," she said, letting out a breath. When he opened his mouth to protest, she slowly held up her hand and held his gaze. "I know I already said that, but…if you hadn't come to find me, I wouldn't be here anymore. I probably would have faded before I woke up, and I wouldn't have gotten to see everyone again. And…"

She broke off as she realized Zexion was smiling at her, shaking his head. Tilting her head to one side, Ria frowned.

After a few seconds, she tapped her fingernails on the table once. "Are you okay?" she asked, seriously wondering what was going through his mind.

Zexion, nodded, and took a long drink of water. "It's just…Ria, when you really focus on something, your eyes seem far away. You look thoughtful, but at the same time you're entirely focused on what's in front of you. It's interesting."

Ria watched him for a moment, and sighed a little.

"I try to say 'thank you' again," she said, smiling, "And you're busy looking into my eyes. I thought the creative observations were my thing."

Zexion shook his head. "No, your 'thing', as you put it, would be constantly surprising the hell out of me. Like the tackling, for example; thankfully, I imagine you're still too tired to give anyone a heart attack today."

She smirked and threw a piece of rice at him. "It's calling _pouncing_, Zex, and it's a sign of affection. And besides, we don't have hearts, so there's no fear of an attack. Unless you expect me to scare you so much your soul somehow suffers."

"Tackling, pouncing, whichever you happen to call it," he argued playfully, "I still end up on the floor with the breath knocked out of me."

Rolling her eyes, Ria drank the rest of her tea and stood up to put the dishes in the sink. "Well, maybe you should try being the one to pounce of people, rather than the one that hits the floor first."

She turned and leaned against the counter, and Zexion turned to consider her.

"This is the strangest conversation I have had with anyone in awhile," he finally said, standing up. Ria smirked, and sat on the counter between the sink and the refrigerator.

"I pounce on you _one_ time, and you're completely turned against it," she muttered, shaking her head.

"Excuse me? One time? I believe you've pounced on me at least four times since then."

"And it never gets old," Ria replied, her smile widening.

Zexion sighed. "At least no one else is subject to such torture," he said sarcastically.

When Ria snorted, he gave her a questioning look, and she suddenly looked uneasy.

He watched her for several more moment, until she finally sighed. "Fine, fine, I pounced on Demyx and Roxas once, while you were down in the lab with Vexen and Namine. I snuck up behind them and failed to realize they were about to walk down a flight of stairs, and...well…"

He looked curious, and said, "And?"

Ria ran a hand through her hair, and ran her necklace along its chain. "I meant to just surprise them, but, um…we ended up falling down the stairs."

Zexion's eyebrows rose, and he slowly shook his head. "Was that the afternoon I found you walking down the hallway, holding your right wrist against your stomach?"

"Yeah," she replied, blushing, "It wasn't fun; didn't you say I sprained it or something?"

"Strained it, actually; even for a Nobody, an actually sprain would have taken at least two weeks to heal."

Ria nodded and jumped down from the counter, suddenly feeling tired. Going back to sleep and resting was probably in her best interest right now.

"What time is it, Zex?" she asked.

He frowned, but said, "Nearly midnight, I think; why?"

She shrugged. "No reason, I just think I'm going to go back and sleep some more."

"That's a very good idea," he said, walking over and pulling her close. After a moment, he added, "Your power hasn't completely returned yet, so you should take it easy the next couple of days. When I told Xemnas you were back, he said for me to tell him when you woke up. I have to go do that, but he also said that when you finally awoke, he would give you a week before talking with you about the last fight you had with Axel."

Snuggling closer to him, Ria sighed heavily. "Oh, for…I would rather be turned into a moogle—red pom-pom included!—than go through another round of grueling missions," she protested, "I don't want to, but I guess I have to do what Xemnas says. Besides, I did initiate the fight with Axel, so I guess I need to take whatever punishment he gives out and just be happy I don't end up with worse."

As she pulled away, Zexion smiled slightly. "Alright, get back to bed. I don't think Xemnas will give you anything as hard as fighting Heartless with Marluxia. There's an important meeting scheduled for four days from now, so he's been gradually cutting the number of missions down. You just might get lucky and end up doing chores with Axel, or the like."

"Joy," she said, rolling her eyes.

_**x-x-x-x-x-x-x**_

Walking through one of hallways, Roxas turned left, trying to remember exactly where Namine's room was. Axel walked beside him, talking about the burning his eyes had endured upon watching Zexion be 'cuddly' with anyone. Roxas quietly laughed to himself at the redhead's animated mood, and was thoroughly glad he had made up with Axel. The fact that he and Ria were on civil terms now was good, because now there wouldn't be any tension between everyone's friendships with the others.

As Axel swung an arm over his shoulder, Roxas absently wondered what Xemnas wanted. Superior had told the blond he wanted to talk to him about something, and to meet him in Namine's room an hour ago.

Usually, Xemnas didn't wait to tell anyone anything; he just said it and left.

When Roxas commented that Zexion probably found the thought of Axel being romantic with anyone equally as…strange…the redhead had let out a bark of laughter.

"How could anyone not think you're cute, Roxas?" was his reply.

Roxas sighed, and shook his head.

_**x-x-x-x-x-x-x**_

Standing nearly the window, one hand on his chin, Xemnas contemplated the dark sky.

"Namine, I want you to focus on Roxas," Xemnas instructed, "Wherever he is in the Castle, focus on his thoughts and mind and visualize yourself gently tugging at those thoughts. I have called Roxas here, so he will be arrive soon. I want you to focus on that memory of me giving him the order to come, and make him forget it."

Frowning, Namine looked up at him, her grip on her pencil tight.

"How?"

A day ago, Xemnas had decided to personally help Namine with her training. She was trying, but he could tell some part of her was hesitant to influence the memory of anyone in the Castle. When he had explained that they would only be changing little things, just for her to practice, she had finally agreed. He could tell she still didn't like the idea, though.

"Imagine that memories are like a very long chain, with each individual link being a memory. There will be an endless amount of links, but you can focus your power on just the one you want. So, focus on the memory of me telling Roxas to come, just that one link. Now, slowly work the link loose, separating it from the rest of the chain. Drop it below into darkness, and mend the empty space between the links. Hook them together, and let your power fade."

Namine bit the end of her pencil, and quickly began to draw.

_**x-x-x-x-x-x-x**_

Roxas stopped suddenly, causing Axel to stumble beside him. The redhead took his arm off the boy's shoulders, and frowned as he saw Roxas's expression.

"You okay, Rox?" he asked, his tone a bit worried.

Roxas didn't respond for a few seconds. "What?" he finally said, turning to face Axel.

"I asked if you were okay."

"Oh," the blond said, "I'm fine, it's just…where are we going?"

Axel gave him a funny look, and crossed his arms. "Are you serious?" he asked. Roxas copied his gesture and gave him a look, and Axel added, "You said something about Xemnas wanting to see you, I think. I just came along to keep you company."

To his surprise, Roxas seemed confused about his answer.

"Axel, I don't remember Xemnas ever asking me to come. Are you sure?"

Axel was caught off guard, and wasn't sure what to do. So, he shrugged and said, "I don't know Rox, that's just want you told me. Are _you_ sure?"

Roxas watched him for a second, his blue eyes thoughtful. Eventually, he let out a breath and shook his head.

"You want to go ruin Vexen's lab or something?" he asked casually.

Axel smirked, and nodded. "Wouldn't miss it for the world."

_**x-x-x-x-x-x-x**_

_Turning around in a circle, Ria frowned in confusion as she realized she was in the meeting room. Why was she here? She didn't remember ever deciding to come, and never did unless Xemnas was holding one of his weekly meetings. It was a great time to try and catch up on lost sleep._

_As her eyes searched the room, she suddenly noticed that all the Organization members were standing around, watching her. Before she knew it, her fans were in her fans, and she was turning to block an attack from Axel._

_Wait, Axel was attacking her?_

_The answer began apparent as she jump back, her eyes filling with confusion. She and Axel had a truce now! They shouldn't be fighting!_

_She refused to attack him, as furious and heated as his advancement got. She blocked, parried, spun and sidestepped, determined to stay on the defense until she figured out what the hell was going on._

_Then, Axel stopped attacking, and watching her with amber eyes._

_Amber?_

_The other Organization members faded around them. Ria looked around, panic setting in her stomach and she tried to figure out what was going on. When she looked back at Axel, her mouth opened to ask him a question, she found Xemnas standing there instead._

_He looked disappointed, yet somehow pleased at the same time._

_Then, two weapons appeared in his hands, ones that Ria had heard called 'aerial blades' at one time._

_She gasped, and quickly jumped back, raising her fans. The man's expression did not change, but he did take slow, determined steps towards her._

_Knowing she stood no chance if she was forced to fight her Superior, Ria tried to open portal to darkness. She let out a frustrated noise when it didn't work, and ran for the doors. Grabbing the handle of one, she pulled with all her strength, only to find it locked tightly._

_Since when were the doors of the meeting room locked?_

_Moving to put the table between herself and Xemnas, Ria attempted to use her magic to force the door open. It failed miserably, and she couldn't even make one of the chairs move an inch. Growling, she watched Xemnas stalk around to her side of the table, and jumped onto the piece of furniture. She searching frantically, looking for a way to escape._

_Her eyes drifted to the nearest skylight above her head, and she felt desperation fill her eyes as she saw Zexion kneeling over it. In his hands was a copy of one of her fans, and he was stabbing at the glass with it. When that didn't work, he tossed in aside and pressed one bare hand against the skylight, looking down as her hopelessly._

_"Zexion…" she whispered, meeting his eyes._

_A moment later, she was forced to execute a flip to the side off the table, landing on the ground as Xemnas swung one of the red blades at her. He advanced on her quickly, and she had to fight to block and dodge his attacked. Only a minute later, she was breathing hard and her arms hurt, and Xemnas continued to attack. He would teleport and appear behind her, barely giving her time to save herself from a beating. More often than not, though, she was met with a hard blow from one of the blades._

_Finally, she stumbled backward, her spine pressed against the wall. She tried to stand, but fell to the floor._

_She watched helplessly as Xemnas came towards her, and his weapons disappeared. Tearing her gaze from his, she looked up to find Zexion calling her name._

_In one last attempt to save herself, Ria gripped her right fan and slashed at Xemnas's hand as it reached down._

_Instead of slicing through black coat and flesh, Xemnas knocked the weapon from her hands. She leapt to her feet, and attacked with the other fan. This, too, was lost to her as Xemnas swept her feet out from under her. She hit her head on the marble and flinched, and Xemnas quickly kneeled beside her. As his hand rested firmly on her forehead, she barely had time to look at Zexion again…_

…_and then she felt something pass through her, and she was falling through darkness._

_It wasn't to much a physical sensation as an _awareness _of quiet darkness gently pressing around her. She couldn't feel the wind pressed against her fingertips, but she knew she was falling, and something whispered to her not to care. It told her to just relax, and give into…_

With a start, Ria's eyes snapped open and she tensed as she realized the area around her was dark. When something moved closer to her, she calmed immediately as she felt Zexion's arm resting protectively around her waist. He was still asleep, it seemed, and she vaguely remembered she was sleeping in his room.

Letting out a breath, she settled back into the warmth of the covers. Zexion shifted a little more, and Ria let out a contented sigh as she closed her eyes.

* * *

Yes, this chapter was full of some much needed ZexionxRia, and there will be a little more next chapter. This was sort of a filler, I think, because the last stretch of story begins next. Right now, I'm predicting that if I work hard and add extra scenes and everything, there will be between 35 and 40 chapters. And when the final chapter does come around (I will give everyone ample warning!) there will be some important news at the end. 

Reviews?

Thanks for reading, guys! We're soooooo close to 200 reviews, so let's see if we can break that:) I'm just the writer, and I can't do it without you guys. You've helped to make the story what is is today. I'm off to work on the next chappy!


	32. Chapter 32

WHOA, I am SO sorry I haven't updated sooner! I got a huge bit of writer's block this past week, and really wasn't sure how to start this chapter. Anyway, you guys probably want to read, so I'll keep this short. :)

I own nothing but Ria. Kingdom Hearts belongs to Square Enix (and Disney?) and the quotes I use from the movie "Much Ado About Nothing", um...belong to someone. I have no idea who, I just know they aren't mine.

* * *

**The Spirited Reverie**

**By**

**LadyDarkDreamer**

* * *

**Chapter 32:**

"Ria?"

She ignored the voice whispering her name, still half-asleep as she nestled closer to the person beside her. Her breathing began to even, and she was slowly slipping back to—

"Ria, I hate to wake you, but you really need to get up."

Sleep fled, and Ria found herself opening her eyes and letting out a breath. Turning her head, she found herself staring into Zexion's very alert eyes; it should have been unlawful for someone to be so awake in the morning.

Sighing, she shut her eyes and rested her head on his chest, refusing to move. Whatever he wanted, it could wait. Her plan, only created about five seconds ago, consisted of him being quiet and both of them falling back to sleep. When she woke again in an hour or so, she would listen to him.

"Ria," his voice came again. Ria groaned a little and shifted, resting her head in the crook of his neck, digging her fingernails lightly into his side in warning.

"Zexion," she finally said, her voice heavy, "I can't see the clock, but I know it has to be really early in the morning. I just know it's early, so don't ask; it feels like an ungodly hour. Give me one good reason to move, or I'm going to bite your hand off before I go back to sleep."

Light laughter filled her ears, and she lifted her head to glare at him.

"Please?" he asked, question in his eyes.

Letting out another sigh, she sat up a bit and stared at him for a moment. "Why?"

"Someone's here, knocking at the door."

It took a second for the words to sink in, but her eyes finally narrowed and she sat up. Listening hard, she noticed for the first time that somebody was, in fact, knocking on Zexion's door.

"Why not just leave them?" she asked.

He sat up as well, and said "They've been there for the last ten minutes, and it's starting to bother me."

"Well, it's bothering me too," she replied, "Any idea who it might be? And why do I have to get up?"

Zexion took a deep breath, and scowled. "Smells like the ocean," he answered, "Which means it's probably Demyx. He's your friend, so I think it's you he wants."

Ria gave him a look, and shook her head. "Well, no respectable friend gets another up before noon without a good reason. What the hell does he want?"

"I have no idea," Zexion said, shrugging, "Have you noticed you tend to be a little hateful early in the morning?"

Sighing heavily as she got out of bed, Ria grabbed a hooded jacket off the ground. It was burgundy, with the word 'Sweet' written on the front in curvy white letters; she had bought it in Twilight Town not too long ago, with a little insistence from Zexion. Pulling it over her head, she put her hands on her hips and glared at the schemer.

"Do you value being whole, Zexion?" she asked, her tone edgy.

When he gave her a questioning look, she rolled her eyes and headed for the door.

"It was just an observation."

She glanced over her shoulder at him, and put her hands in the pockets of her pajama pants. "Zex, contrary to popular belief, I will bite people," she said in warning. Thankfully, he didn't see her smirk as she entered the living room and opened the door to the suite.

About to ask what Demyx wanted, she suddenly stopped short, her eyes widening and she took in the sight before her.

It wasn't Demyx she found standing outside of the door, though...

…it was a giant moogle.

But unlike a real moogle, it was bright neon green, and the pompom was glowing pink, then blue and yellow.

What the hell?

Another few second passed, and the moogle reached up and pulled off its head, revealing a blushing Demyx.

"Demyx, what—"

"I lost a bet, okay?" he said, sounding embarrassed, "Against Luxord and Xigbar."

Ria frowned, very confused by all this information. Demyx has lost a bet?

What kind of bet involved sending a person around the Castle dressed in a very_ bright_ moogle costume?

"Um, Demyx…" Ria began, dropping off when she had no idea what to say. Demyx shifted a bit, looking uncomfortable as she tried to find words to express what was going through her head. Finally, she asked, "What kind of bet did you lose, Demyx?"

The blond shook his head quickly, and looked up and down the hallway.

"You don't want to know," he explained, "I just…I'm supposed to run around and wake everyone up, and, well…"

Before she could react, Demyx jumped forward and Ria found herself enveloped in a loose hug. She froze, thoroughly confused as Demyx quickly let her go.

"Sorry, Xigbar told me I had to sneak in and attack you and Zexion, but I really didn't want to bother you guys. You're not the friendliest person in the morning, and Zexion would probably kill me without a second thought, so…yeah," he added quickly, stepping out of the room and moving to put the moogle mask back on his head.

"Wait, wait, wait," Ria replied, leaning out of the door and Demyx walked away, "I…hey! Why is everyone saying I'm a witch in the morning? Dem, get back here!"

Instead, Demyx ignored her and disappeared into a portal.

A few seconds passed, and Ria finally sighed and shut the door. Locking it, she headed back to the bedroom, pulling off the jacket and running a hand through her hair. It seemed as though Zexion was already asleep, and Ria shook her head. Climbing back under the warm covers, she kicked Zexion's shin with one heel when he attempted to pull her close. A quiet "Ow!" filled her ears, and she smiled and little and buried herself in the comforter.

It was too early in the morning, and weird things always tended to happen at early hours. She really didn't feel like contemplating what had happened with Demyx, but she was well aware of the fact that it was _Zexion_ who had gotten her up. He could live without a person to cuddle with for one day.

_**x-x-x-x-x-x-x**_

"The experiments and research involving the Nobody found in Twilight Town, Namine, have been completed," Xemnas began. For once, Ria was actually paying attention instead of sending incredibly humorous thoughts to Zexion, Demyx, and even Roxas and Axel. One particularly memorable occasion had been yesterday's last-minute meeting, called by their beloved Superior to stress the fact that life-size neon moogles were _not_ allowed in the Castle. Xemnas had also stressed that whoever had let the creature in would be in big trouble if caught letting the thing loose again. It didn't seem to occur to the Superior that the moogle had actually been the Melodious Nocturne in a costume.

Aside from the amusing circumstance of the meeting, the private thoughts Ria had sent to her friends had been priceless. While Xemnas ranted on about how moogles did _not_ make good pets—and how pets were not allowed in the Organization to begin with!—Ria had begun to quote lines from the a favorite movie of hers, one that was based off a not-so-famous comedy by Shakespeare:

_Smiling, she thought to everyone, _And now, to interrupt our apparently seething and very much bewildered Superior, I would like to offer a few lines from the movie "Much Ado About Nothing", one of my personal favorites_. Zexion sent her a very small glance, surprise in his eyes. _

_"I will repeat—"_

O that he were here to write me down an ass_, she thought, hiding a smirk behind her hand. Axel was staring at her now._

_"—whoever let that monster loose in my Castle will be found! Need I remind everyone that—"_

But, masters, remember, I am an ass_, she continued._

_Axel quickly turned his head away, and Ria saw Roxas fighting to suppress a smile. She did her best to keep from laughing, but Demyx seemed unable to stop his. He laughed a little, and Xemnas immediately jerked his head in the musician's direction._

_"Am I supposed to believe that everyone here finds this occurrence humorous? A bright green moogle was waltzing around the Castle, bothering a number of us while we were attempting to sleep. I am very aware that most of us do not sleep often, but what little rest we get is precious. I, for one, do not appreciate being awoken by a possibly mutant and dangerous moogle shouting 'KUPO!' at the top of its lungs," he said, somehow managing to keep a straight face the entire time._

_Wait, had Xemnas just shouted 'kupo'?_

_"I do not find the situation comical in the least. If that creature had attacked any of us—"_

_Could Xemnas somehow, just maybe, by some stroke of luck…be afraid of moogles? He certainly was making a fuss about it._

_"And furthermore—"_

Though it be not written down, forget not that I am an ass_, she finished, grinning wildly behind her hand. She looked over at Zexion, and found him slowly shaking his head. Axel was sitting back in his chair, his arms crossed as he watched the ceiling. His shoulders were shaking, and Roxas was trying to look normal._

And those, boys, are my favorite lines from the entire movie. Thank you for listening to station 14 point…whatever. Goodnight, _she thought lastly._

"For some time now, I have been contemplating a plan to use Namine's powers to this Organization's advantage, and I have come up with a plan," Xemnas said, pausing to looking over everyone sitting at the table. Seconds passed, and he continued, "I am sure that everyone here had heard of Castle Oblivion, another stronghold in our possession. I believe that with Namine's power over memories, we could mold Castle Oblivion to amplify her powers. This is the plan I intend to follow through with, but it will require the separation of the Organization so that we can get as much done as possible."

Ria felt her eyes widen in surprise, and she looked around to see the others' expressions. Just like her, everyone seem shocked or confused by what Xemnas had just said.

What did he mean by 'separation'?

Murmurs began to ripple through the room, but no one seemed to want to speak up. Xemnas seemed to sense this.

"By this, I mean that I will be splitting our numbers in two," he explained, "Half will stay here and continue working on various missions and such. The other half will travel to Castle Oblivion, make it livable again and continue with experiments."

"Wait a minute, Superior," Larxene suddenly said, apparently not afraid to address him, "What exactly is the Castle Oblivion group supposed to be doing? Is there a specific mission they're supposed to complete, or are they just going there for an extended vacation?"

Her sarcasm wasn't lost on the group, and a few snorted or shook their heads. Xemnas decided to ignore it.

"I was getting to that, Larxene," he answered. "There is a specific mission, and it is a very important one, but I will explain the precise details of it later. First, I will announce the group that will be accompanying Namine to Castle Oblivion. There will be seven going, and once I have named everyone, I want the six not called to leave the meeting room. There is good reason for this, so do not question my decision."

As Xemnas finished his speech, Ria's stomach clenched as she quickly realized the meaning of his words. He was separating the Organization into two groups, but which group would she be in? Which would Zexion be in, even Demyx? Would she end up with everyone she considered a friend being in one group, and herself with members she barely talked to?

So, this was Xemnas's plan. Since the group going to this new castle would be taking Namine, could this possibly be a plot to intercept the young Keyblade master—Sora, was that his name?—and change his memories so that the Organization could get their hearts back? Zexion had told her all this information before, but Ria hadn't been expecting Xemnas to come up with a plan so quickly. Besides, there didn't seem any other logical reason for Xemnas to be sending them off.

Her hands tightened into fists under the table, and Ria tried to keep her face from showing anything. The thought of having one's memories tampered with…

Ria dropped the thought, and took a deep breath as she flattened her hands against her black jeans.

Even if what she suspected was true, there wasn't anything she could do about it. Xemnas would surely send the most qualified members to Castle Oblivion, and she certainly did not fall within that range. True, she had helped with testing Namine, but only a little bit. She was not a scientist, and definitely not among the most powerful of the members. More than likely, she would be staying here in the Castle That Never Was.

But what about Zexion? Xemnas would probably send the schemer with the group.

That meant she wouldn't see him for a while…weeks, possibly even months.

What the heck was she going to do? If he ended up going…

"Now," Xemnas said, interrupting her thoughts, "To name the seven that will be going to Castle Oblivion. We will need scientists, so naturally Vexen and Zexion will be going; Lexaeus will go as well, both because he is a powerful fighter and because of his scientific abilities."

So, Zexion would be going.

Even though she didn't have one, it felt as if her heart fell from its place in her chest. Ria looked down, not even bothering to see if Zexion was looking her way.

"Fighters will also be needed as well," Xemnas pressed on, "So I am sending Axel and Larxene. Both of you are fast and clever in battle, and should be able to deal with any problem that arises. Choosing a third member for this purpose was difficult, but I have decided to send Rianxan as well. As troublesome as you are, Number Fourteen, you are talented when it comes to fighting, and your skills may be needed."

At hearing her name, Ria immediately lifted her head and stared at Xemnas in disbelief.

She was going? He was actually sending her to Castle Oblivion?

The pressure that had been settling in her chest and stomach suddenly disappeared, and she glanced over at Zexion. He looked in her direction, and she found that he looked about as relieved as she felt. So, it seemed they wouldn't be separated during the mission.

"Now, the last member I chose is going to act as the leader in my absence. That person is Marluxia."

Ria frowned, her eyes quickly finding the man. She found him looking shocked, and a moment later protests followed.

"Superior, Marluxia isn't qualified to lead any mission of the importance you are talking about!" Vexen shouted in objection, standing up from his seat.

"I think I am perfectly capable of leading," Marluxia arguing, standing as well.

"I highly doubt you would succeed in such an attempt, Marluxia. You are young and care more about yourself than the Organization," Vexen said, his voice low. "With you leading, we would most like end up living in a flower garden and dressed in fluffy pink dresses!"

"I agree," Zexion put in, much to Ria's surprise, "If anyone should be put in charge, it's Lexaeus or Vexen. They've been part of the experiments and actually know what is going on. We don't need one of the neophytes screwing up everything we've worked for all this time."

"I object to that! Who the hell do you think you are talking too, old man?" Marluxia challenged, his knuckles turning white as he gripped the edge of the table.

Vexen opened his mouth to say something else, but Xemnas silenced him with a hand gesture.

"I don't care for anyone's input on the matter," he countered, his voice leaving no room for argument.

"But, Superior—"

Xemnas interrupted the blond scientist, sending him a look of warning. "I said the decision is final, Number Four, so sit down and keep quiet. I chose Marluxia because he is levelheaded and good at strategizing. These will be needed when it comes to the mission, and he will keep all of you from fighting and destroying everything. You will treat him with the same respect you treat me, because he will be the ones giving the orders. Now, the rest of you should be leaving now. I have things to discuss with this group."

_**x-x-x-x-x-x-x**_

Another hour passed, and Ria was beginning to wonder whether Xemnas was ever going to let them leave.

He had gone on to explain the mission, which she had listened to despite the urge to ignore it. As she had suspected: after Sora's final battle with Xemnas's Heartless, they would guide the boy to Castle Oblivion somehow, and go from there. Once he was in the castle, Namine could begin switching around and changing his memories.

It was what came after that that surprised her. Xemnas had gone on to explain that under no circumstances were any of them to discuss the Castle Oblivion mission with the other members—Ria had scowled inwardly at this, because there was a good chance that Xigbar, Xaldin, and Saix already knew—and that he would let them know when they were leaving. It would be soon, and Vexen and Lexaeus would spend some time there beforehand. They would take Namine, and do their best to shape the castle to increase the girl's power.

Ria could already feel her objections to the mission rising, but she kept quiet. Finally, Xemnas ordered them once again to keep the mission details to themselves, and told them to leave.

She didn't pay much attention as she opened a portal to Zexion's room. Even as she pulled off her cloak, she was still having trouble believing that Xemnas was actually sending her to help with the mission. It seemed, at least to her, strange, but she wasn't about to object.

She was glad she was going, but still…somehow the mission didn't sit right with her.

_**x-x-x-x-x-x-x**_

Axel got up to leave, still surprised that he had been chosen. Despite what Xemnas had said, he had the full intention of finding Roxas and telling him about the mission. Roxas was part of what Sora was, or the other way around…however it worked. The boy deserved to know what was going on.

Opening a portal, he searched both his room and Roxas'a, but couldn't find the blond. He then checked the kitchen, lounge, training room, and even the hallways surrounding the meeting room.

Then, as a last resort, he checked the library, and found Roxas sitting on one of the sofas.

"Is Xemnas finished with his secret speech?" Roxas asked, twirling Oathkeeper above his head idly.

Axel nodded, and walked over to sit down on the far end of the couch.

After a moment, he said, "Xemnas told us what the mission was, Rox; he also practically ordered us to not tell anyone else."

Roxas snorted, and tapped the edge of the keyblade against the marble floor. "Well, that's just great, isn't it?" he said, the sarcastism evident, "You get to go run off on some mysterious mission, while I get to stay here with Demyx for company. Why the hell do I get left behind? I'm a good fighter, better than Ria at least, yet I get stuck here with the old and crazy members. Why is that, I wonder?"

Running a hand through his hair, Axel let silence fill the next few minutes.

"Roxas…no one else is in here, right?"

The blond gave him a look. "No, we're the only ones here. Why?"

"Because, I'm about to break orders and tell you the mission," Axel explained, shifting a little. "Roxas…we're going to Castle Oblivion to intercept Sora, and Marluxia is going to use Namine to rearrange his memories. It's just like what you overheard from Zexion that morning."

He lifted his eyes in time to watch Roxas's face fall, and then quickly harden into a mask of resolve.

"Are…are you serious, Ax? Sora is going to be at Castle Oblivion?"

Axel nodded.

Roxas's grip on Oathkeeper tightened, and the mask slipped. "You have to get me in, Axel!" he shouted suddenly, standing up and pacing, "I have to talk with Xemnas, or find Sora or…I have to do something! He's my Somebody, and I can't just let them mess with his memories! What if something happens to him, or to my memories, or what if something happens to…to me? I can't just go looking for him; if I'm part of him, what if I fade away? I, I don't want to fade, Axel! I hate not having a heart, but I want to stay the way I am. I am my own person, I have just as much right to have my own heart as he does! I—"

Axel stood quickly, striding over to Roxas and grabbing him by the shoulders. Roxas looked at him with desperate eyes, ones full of question as the redhead's hands tightened on his shoulders. Axel held the boy still, and held his gaze for a long moment.

"You aren't going to fade, Roxas," he said firmly, shaking him a little to get some sense into him, "And you're going to stay right here in this castle, and in this world, until I get back. I'll go to Castle Oblivion and play along with their little mission, but I'll stop it somehow. I'll figure out some way to make sure Sora escapes. I don't know how I'll do it, but I will. I won't let Xemnas try and control anyone else."

Long seconds changed to minutes, stretching out as Axel waited for an answer.

Finally, Roxas just nodded, and hugged Axel briefly.

"Thank you," Roxas said, after pulling away.

* * *

Haha, sorry about this chapter being a little random! xD I just needed a little humor along with the seriousness of the plot, so...yeah. And now I'm sounding like Demyx, which is surprisingly the Organization member I would probably most be like, personality-wise. Either him or Roxas, I haven't really figured it out yet. 

Alright, so, IMPORTANT NEWS. I finally know how many chapters this story will have. The answer is 35, no more and no less; yes, that means there are only three more chapters left before the end. I can't believe this story is coming to an end, but it's time, sadly. BUT I will have a HUGE bit of news at the end of the final chapter, so be on the lookout for that. :)

I love the movie "Much Ado About Nothing". I know it's a little cheesy (if anyone's seen it), but it's SO funny. The parts I quoted are from the really weird sheriff-type character, who is actually pretty nuts in the movie. Moving on...

Reviews?


	33. Chapter 33

Well, this chapter gave me a considerable amount of trouble. It being the third to last chappy, I didn't want to get into the last bit of plot just yet. So, it's a little random and shorter than usual, but I think it fits well and sets up for the last two chapters. Oh my gosh, I can't believe there's only two more chapters left! Holy crap, I don't think I've yet realized this story will be finished like, next week! O.O

I own nothing but Ria.

* * *

**The Spirited Reverie**

**By**

**LadyDarkDreamer**

* * *

**Chapter 33:**

The view of the City That Never Was and Memory's Skyscraper was just as impressive as before.

For once it wasn't raining, and the sky was clear while the light of the heart-shaped moon covered the white marble of the Castle. Sitting on the edge of the flat roof with her legs over the edge, Ria leaned back against her hands and look a few moments to watch the city.

Zexion had brought her here before, to this very same spot. That had been the night she had collapsed in tears as her new destiny finally caught up with her.

Destiny? No, that wasn't it.

It was not destiny that had turned her into the person she was right at this moment.

Taking a deep breath and closing her eyes, Ria let it out and let herself fall back onto the rooftop. She brought her feet up and pushed herself away from the edge, keeping her knees up and using her hands as a pillow for her head. Finally, she opened her eyes again and stared up at the sky.

This place was perfect. It was quiet, which was exactly what she wanted. Everything had happened so fast during the meeting, and her thoughts had raced afterward as she took it all in. She had needed a place where she could think in peace, a place that didn't already belong to anyone else. So, instead of waiting for Zexion to return, she had left the moomba plushie on the coffee table in the living room, and had left. When he saw it, Zexion would know she was okay, and wouldn't come looking for her.

Which, for once, was a good thing; she needed to be alone right now.

Letting out a sigh, Ria slowly relaxed all her muscles and closed her eyes again. The silence was nice, and she actually enjoyed the slightly chilly air. She could hear the wind wandering its way between the buildings and roads, and it was comforting.

It was hard to believe that she had come to this place only three months ago.

Had it really only been three months? It seemed at least twice that long, probably because so much had happened during that time.

Only twelve weeks ago, she had been human, living in a city that had no knowledge of darkness or other worlds. Well, they had had moogles as shopkeepers or traveling through the streets, but as far as anyone knew, the little creatures had always been there. No one had ever suspected that they could be from outside their world.

She had been Ariann then, a young woman worried more about her friends and schoolwork than anything else.

And now…now she was Rianxan, Number Fourteen and the Spirited Reverie of the Organization. Her heart was gone, and she was a Nobody.

And in a few weeks, she would be on her way to Castle Oblivion, to be part of a mission she was very much against.

As glad as she was that she wouldn't be separated from Zexion, her gut was telling her that the mission was wrong. They were taking Namine to Castle Oblivion, probably to keep her locked up in some white room like the one she was in now. As far as Ria knew, the teenager hadn't been out of that room since she had been found in Twilight Town that night—save for experiments in the basement, of course. It seemed, at least to Ria, that Namine was being held prisoner.

Which brought up the question, had Namine ever been _asked_ what she wanted? Ria remembered than Xemnas, upon finding her, and asked politely if she wanted to join the Organization. As far as she could recall, he hadn't extended the same courtesy Namine. He had just answered a few of the girl's questions, and convinced her to take his hand.

Namine didn't even have a proper place in the Organization. It seemed like Xemnas was just…treating her like a pet, one that was both precious and dangerous at the same time.

And how did the girl feel about the Castle Oblivion mission? Did she know that Marluxia would be asking her to manipulate Sora's memories, and change them so much that the boy probably wouldn't remember who he was? How did she feel about a boy nearly her own age being used to further Xemnas's own goal of harnessing Kingdom Hearts, so that everyone here could get their hearts back?

Ria didn't know the answers to any of these questions, but she wanted to find out.

Tomorrow, if she had time, she would go visit Namine and ask her.

It was the only thing she could do, at least for now, to get the thoughts that were bothering her out of her head.

_**x-x-x-x-x-x-x**_

"Are you sure this is the time, Marluxia?" Larxene asked, leaning against the wall. She watched as he slowly walked across the room, and turned to face her.

He smiled a little. "This is the perfect time, Larxene," he replied, "Xemnas is separating our numbers and leaving me in charge of Castle Oblivion. Once there, you and I can begin our plot to over throw the Organization, and take over. Superior has no idea what I am planning, and he runs this place terribly. I would make a much better leader, don't you agree?"

The blonde waited a moment, then nodded.

"What's your plan?"

"I will be in charge of Namine, so we can use her to our advantage. Once Sora arrives, I believe we can use him to eliminate the members that would cause us trouble," he explained, "Axel will surely see things our way once we talk to him, but Lexaeus, Vexen and Zexion will have to go."

Nodding again, Larxene looked up as she suddenly thought of something.

"What about Ria? Do you think she'll join us?"

Marluxia stopped walking, and seemed to consider this for a few moments.

"She doesn't seem to have any respect for Xemnas, but then again, she's romantically involved with Zexion. When everything starts to fall into place and people start dieing, the odds are she will side with the original members. She'll have to die as well, if that happens," he said.

"So, we won't be asking her?"

Marluxia shook his head.

"But she would be a valuable asset," Larxene added, feeling slightly disappointed that Marluxia would kill the only other female in their ranks. "She's a neophyte like us, as Zexion so kindly likes to label us. If we put pressure on her, she might turn against Zexion and join us. It might take some convincing, but there might be a chance."

"I'm not sure; perhaps she would be of use to us, but we'll have to see."

Rolling her eyes at this, Larxene proceeded to raid Marluxia's mini-fridge. Much to her displeasure, she found it stocked with very expensive bottled water, various fruits and vegetables, and whole-wheat bagels.

"Man, why don't you ever have any normal food in here? All this healthy crap will kill you," she complained, slamming the door and standing up.

"Why do you always have to make comments about my choice of meals? You have your own personal stock of food, and there is a rather large refrigerator in the kitchen. Go rifle through it and leave me to my own options," Marluxia countered, giving her a small shove towards the door that led out into the hallway.

The blonde ignored him, and walked around him to get back too the fridge. Opening it, she pulled out an apple and summoned one of her knives. She used it to cut up the fruit, and glared at Marluxia as she determinedly ate a piece. He shook his head, and turned his attention to something on a nearby shelf.

**_x-x-x-x-x-x-x _**

_She could feel the wind this time, moving her hair and weaving over her fingertips. As she fell, her black cloak gently stirred around her. _

_Ria couldn't tell how fast she was falling, but it didn't seem the matter._

_As she continued to fall, she tilted her head back slightly and moved her hands, and suddenly panicked as she realized what was happening._

_Once again, she was falling through darkness. She didn't want to be here, but she couldn't think of a way she could escape it. Her first urge was the fight against it, but that was immediately followed by a feeling of loneliness. She was here, alone, and desparately wanted a warm hand she could hold onto tightly, or someone to whisper in her ear that she would get out of this. Where was everyone?_

_Then, she felt herself turning upright, and her feet touched the ground._

_Stumbling, Ria hit the floor on her hands and knees. She flinched, and slowly stood up and brushed herself off. The area around her brightened minimally, just enough for her to see, and she realized she was in the meeting room again._

_She turned quickly, and immediately tensed as she spotted Xemnas standing in a corner._

_Beside him, sitting in white chair, was Namine._

_Ria frowned, and unconsciously took a step back as Xemnas looked in her direction. While he was partially draped in shadow, his eyes hadn't lost any of their intensiveness._

_He turned his attention to Namine a moment later, whispering something in her ear. The teenager listened, but shook her head and went to stand. A hand on her shoulder stopped her, though, and she looked at him in surprise._

_Xemnas gave a hard nod, and gestured towards Ria with a hand. Again, Namine shook her head._

_When the fingers on her shoulder tightened, she winched._

_Ria saw this, and scowled. Despite her better judgment, she took several steps forward, intent on stopping Xemnas from hurting the girl. She stopped when Xemnas shot her a look, though. He then opened a dark portal, and grabbed Namine's arm before shoving her into it. Once the blonde disappeared, the portal closed and Ria was left facing Xemnas once again._

_And to make matters worse, the entire room went black again._

_Drawing in a sharp breath in surprise, Ria turned around. She couldn't see the walls, and when she looked up, she found that the skylights had disappeared as well._

_Then she remembered that Xemnas was still in the room, and quickly began looking for him._

_She spotted a figure a few yards away, and starting to take several steps back. The person raised a hand in her direction, and she turned away and quickened her pace. She heard footsteps coming towards, her, and felt a hand on her shoulder before she could get away. She turned, prepared for a fight…_

…_only to find Zexion standing there._

_Relief flooded her, and she embraced him tightly without thinking twice._

_"Are you okay, Ria?" he asked, his voice near her ear._

_She pressed herself closer to him, and shook her head._

_"I don't know what to do, Zexion," she admitted, burying her face in his shoulder as she felt tears building behind her eyes, "Everything's wrong here, and I—"_

_He pulled away slowly, keeping one arm around her waist as he lifted her chin._

_"You won't get lost in the darkness, Ria," he said, his voice reassuring, "I promise."_

_"But, Zex—"_

"Is it okay if I join you?"

Ria opened her eyes as she recognized the voice, and realized she must have fallen asleep. As Zexion entered her field of vision, she quickly forgot what she had been dreaming about, and sat up.

"How long have I been gone?" she asked, scooting over and motioning for him to join her. He sat down, resting his back against the nearby wall and crossing his feet at the ankles. Half-smiling, Ria rested her head on his shoulder. His arm rested around her waist, and she shifted a little. After minute of moving, and she ended up sitting sideways, her legs thrown across his lap and her head still on his shoulder.

"About two hours, I think."

She nodded, and didn't say anything in reply. She was content just to sit there and listen to them both breathe.

"You seemed…surprised, when Xemnas said you were going to Castle Oblivion with us."

Surprised, Ria lifted her head. After a moment, she said, "Yeah, I was; I guess I still am. I was never expecting him to say my name along with everyone else's. I thought he was going to send Xigbar or Xaldin, or even Luxord, and that I would be left here with only two of my friends for company." She paused, her eyes wandering until she finally focused on Zexion again. "I thought I was going to left here without…without you for a long time."

She saw Zexion's eyes soften as he pulled her into a hug. Ria was surprised for a moment, but returned the gesture. They sat there as the minutes passed, neither saying a word.

Eventually, Ria pulled away a little and asked, "Zexion…if…no, _when_ we get our hearts back, however long it takes, what's the first thing you want to do?"

He seemed surprised by her question, and ran a hand through his hair.

"I'm…not sure," he admitted, "I've never really thought about it. What would you do?"

Setting her head on his shoulder again, Ria smiled. "Well, first I would go out dancing, and eat as much Chinese food as I could. I think I would probably spend a few days running around in the sunlight, since we don't get a lot of that here. Oh, and I would definitely pounce on you and make you come dancing with me."

Zexion snorted. "I don't dance, Ria."

She laughed, and poked his side, causing him to jump.

"Okay, there will be no poking or pouncing here! We were having a perfectly relaxing time until you decided to prod my ribs and break the silence."

Another of her laughs echoed across the roof, and she decided he was overdue to be pounced upon. She was halfway set to put her plan into action when he saw her smirk, and quickly took advantage of the moment. He moved fast, pouncing on her and pinning her wrists above her head. Ria let out a shout of surprise, and glared up at him as she smiled.

"I'm incredibly proud of you, Zexion," she said, attempting to escape, but to no avail.

"Why, because I finally took your advice and tackled you?"

"How many times must I tell you, Zex, it's pouncing! Tackling makes the action sound awfully violent, which it is not meant to be."

"So you say," he said, taking the opportunity to kiss her.

A minute later, Ria broke the kiss and laughed a little.

"Oh, and Zexion, anyone can dance. You just listen to the music, and all that."

She couldn't help but smile as he shook his head.

* * *

Again, sorry for the shortness! The last two chapters I will have up this weekend, so...yeah. :) Thank for reading, guys! 

Reviews?


	34. Chapter 34

Wow...yes, that's the only thing I can think to say right now. I'm sorry it took so long to get this next update out, but I ran into some problem involving sleep, writer's block, and a longer ending than I had planned (see my profile for details :P). Anyway, here is the long awaited next chapter:

OH, and it turns out there will actually be 37 chapters, instead of 35! That makes me happy, actually, because I'm quite satisfied with the ending. :) Thank my Muse for the inspiration. Enjoy!

I own nothing but Ria, and her counterpart Ariann...and on that note, her cool weapon-fans. xD

* * *

**The Spirited Reverie**

**By**

**LadyDarkDreamer**

* * *

**Chapter 34:**

_"Are you sure you belong here, Catty?"_

_Ria turned, frowning as she spotted Axel leaning against a nearby wall. His eyes were closed and his head lowered, his arms crossed in front of his chest. She took a step back when he suddenly looked up at her. He watched her for a moment, then lowered his arms to his sides and walked down the corridor._

_"You may seem innocent, newbie, but you're no more innocent than the rest of us."_

_She looked sharply to the left, her eyes widening as Xigbar walked across the ceiling and down the vertical wall. He paused upon setting foot on the floor, though._

_After a second, she realized his was looking at something behind her. Spinning, she found both Larxene and Marluxia considering her._

_"You might just be of use to us, Ria," Larxene said. She began to walk around Ria, looking her up and down._

_"Then again," Marluxia added, "She might just cause us more trouble. Killing her might be a better option, but who knows…"_

_Marluxia took it upon himself to enter her personal space then, grabbing her chin and holding her gaze with his own. Outraged, Ria grabbed his wrist and dug her nails into his skin, pulling his hand away. Almost immediately after she let his hand go, Larxene grabbed the back of her cloak and dragged her backward. Ria struggled, and Larxene grabbed her arm to keep her still._

_"Are you willing to give up Zexion, Ria?" the blonde whispered in her ear._

_Ria scowled, and jammed the heel of her boot onto Larxene's instep. The woman hissed behind her and pushed her away, causing Ria to trip and hit the floor. She pressed a hand against the far wall to catch herself, and started to get to her feet._

_"Reckless, it seems," another voice said, "Very reckless."_

_Ria looked up, and let out a harsh breath as she saw Xemnas walking towards her. Saix suddenly appeared beside him, and she started to back away, keeping her spine pressed against the wall._

_"You did say she had a temper, Xemnas. Maybe it's time—"_

_Ria jumped as she hit something behind her, and turned to find Zexion standing there._

_"Your eyes are so far away, Ria," he observed, watching her with a soft gaze, "What are you thinking about?"_

_She opened her mouth to reply, but gasped as she felt a hand on her shoulder. Before she could turn, she felt darkness press around her, and suddenly found herself once more in the meeting room. The hand on her shoulder was gone though, and the room was empty._

_The room suddenly grew brighter, and Ria looked up to find the heart-shaped moon pouring light in from the skylights. It was beautiful, but…eerie._

_Suddenly hearing the shuffling of paper, she looked to the table. She found Namine there, sitting in the chair that was normally Xemnas's. There were several pieces of crumpled paper in front of her, and as Ria watched, the teenager shook her head and tore another piece out of her sketchbook._

_Slowly, Ria walked over to stand beside the chair. When she ventured a glance at what Namine was now drawing, she found a picture of herself. Her eyes were half-closed, and she was surrounded by a black background…_

_**x-x-x-x-x-x-x**_

Ignoring the toast on the plate, Ria fingered the string of the teabag in the mug in front of her. She took a small sip, then sighed and set it back down on the table. For some reason, she wasn't hungry. She didn't even have the heart or energy to finish the blueberry tea she had made ten minutes ago.

"Are you okay, Ria?" Zexion asked, coming to sit across from her.

Looking up, she studied him for a moment, her thoughts traveling.

No, she wasn't alright at the moment. The dream she had had last night had been the third one this week, and she was beginning to wonder if they were trying to warn her of something. She couldn't find an explanation to explain the dreams, though, and they somehow had only reminded her of the mission ahead at Castle Oblivion.

She was beginning to hate the prospective mission, truthfully. The more she thought about it, the more she was beginning to wish she hadn't been chosen to go.

Even after having decided to speak to Namine after breakfast, her thoughts from the night before still bothered her.

"Ria?"

Returning quickly, Ria found Zexion watching her with a look of concern.

Ria lowered her head, not entirely sure how to respond. She did want someone to talk with about her feelings, but Zexion didn't seem like the best person. He had been the one to tell her about Sora in the first place, but had made her promise to never tell anyone. Surely he, as one of the six original members, supported the plan to use the Keyblade master to regain their hearts.

Then again, what could it hurt to ask how he really felt? No one was around to overhear them, and maybe he could even put her own fears to rest.

So, her decision made, she looked up. "Zexion…" she paused, unsure of how to begin, "How…do you feel about the Castle Oblivion mission, really?"

She watched him carefully after the question. Zexion frowned, and eventually said, "I'm…not sure what you mean. It's a good plan, and has a good chance of succeeding—"

"That's…not exactly what I mean," she said, interrupting him gently. She shifted a little, and continued, "I mean, how do _you_ personally feel about what we're going to be doing?"

Zexion seemed to consider this for a moment. "As I said before, the mission had a good chance of being a success, so it has my support. Why do you ask?"

Sitting back against her chair, Ria shrugging uncomfortably. Should she really tell Zexion how she was feeling?

She looked at him, and found him waiting patiently for an answer.

Taking a deep breath, she forced herself to meet his gaze as she leaned forward, resting her arms on the table.

"It's just, I'm not really sure how to feel about it, Zexion," she admitted.

She waited for a reply, but he nodded and gestured for her to continue.

"I mean, I'm excited about the prospect of getting our hearts back, but…should we go about doing it the way we are? We're purposely going to lure a fourteen-year-old boy into a castle we control, and use another girl his age to manipulate his memories so we can control him. Is that really fair, or even humane? Does Xemnas have any idea what we might be getting into?"

Zexion seemed a little hesitant upon hearing this, but said, "I'm sure he does, Ria. Xemnas thinks everything through in great detail, and wouldn't assign this mission if he thought it was useless. And just think about it: each of us, however careful we will be, are going to be in just as much danger from coming into contact with Sora and he will be encountering every one of us. There is hazard on both sides, and there is no way we can change that. The reward if we succeed far outweighs the risk, I think."

"But what about Sora? What about his memories?" Ria pressed on, shaking her head. "We're going to be tampering with _memories_, Zexion! Is it just me, or does the idea of changing and…defiling them not sound like a bad thing? Memories are precious to their owners, and should be left alone. What if something goes wrong, and Sora can't remember who he is? Or he breaks down from what's happening to him?"

Zexion seemed thoroughly surprised by all these sudden questions, and gave her a curious look.

"Ria, I promise you that Namine is well in control of her power. She won't let anything go wrong—"

"Okay, let's say everything does go the way it's planned," she added, "What happens afterward? If we get control of Sora, and end up getting our hearts back further down the road, what happens at the end? Does Xemnas have Namine fix all of the memories she changed, and give Sora back his life? Do we let him go, somehow make him forget everything that happened? How will he explain to himself all the time he's lost?

"I'm sure Xemnas has everything planned out, Ria, but we have to complete this mission first," Zexion answered, giving her a hard look. "Where are all these questions coming from? I don't understand why all this is bothering you."

A bit taken aback by his comment, Ria frowned.

"Zexion, I want to know what I'm getting into before the mission starts," she answered, "There are so many things we don't know, and it's just…I don't know, seems like we shouldn't be doing this. Sure, Namine is able to control memories, but should we really be using that power the way Xemnas is planning too? And how does Namine feel about the entire mission? We keep her locked up in one room ninety-five percent of the time, Zexion. Xemnas doesn't want her wandering around, so he treats her like a prisoner. It isn't right, and has anyone even asked her how she feels about, well, everything?"

Starting to stand, Zexion shook his head and leaned against the table with his palms flat against the wood.

"I'm sure if Namine was unsure about the mission, she would tell one of us," he said, and Ria could tell he was trying to keep his voice even. "Ria, this is the first chance we've had to possibly retrieve our hearts, and it's worth striving for. Don't you want to be whole again?"

She was shocked by his question, and stood in frustration.

"I do want my heart, Zexion, but not if I have to hurt others to get it. I already feel bad for not being able to tell Roxas what's going on, when he has every right to know. I don't want to blindly contribute to a mission that manipulates another person, especially one that has Roxas's heart. I don't want to do something just because I'm unsure, and feel guilty for it later because I didn't know what would happen."

"Ria, we don't really have a choice in the matter!" Zexion argued, his voice growing harsh now. "If you want out, then you can ask Xemnas, but I doubt he will change his mind. You'll just end up making him angry, which we don't need right now—"

"Well, that's seems to be the problem, doesn't it?" she countered, taking several steps away in frustration and turning. "I realize that Xemnas is the leader of this Organization, but it seems more like a dictatorship than anything else! If we're all here to strive for the goal to regain our hearts, why aren't all of us discussing the best course of action? Shouldn't all of us have some say in a mission this important, this huge? I just, I don't get it!"

"Ria, why are you acting like this? It's—"

Growling, Ria brushed her hair away from her face and turned away, suddenly tired of the argument. So many questions were still going through her head, and…

"Where are you going?" he asked as she headed for the kitchen doorway.

"To talk to Namine," she snarled back. Ignoring Zexion's protests, she opened a portal and entered it. She had planned to talk to the girl before, so what better time than now? Namine always seemed peaceful and quiet, so maybe she could help Ria calm down a bit. Hopefully she could put some of Ria's questions to rest.

_**x-x-x-x-x-x-x**_

He watched as she disappeared into a portal, and clasped his hands behind his back.

Well, this was a strange occurrence.

As Xemnas stood there, he ventured a glanced back into the kitchen. Zexion was still standing there, looking both surprised and lost.

Xemnas leaned back into the hallway, his gaze falling to the floor as he thought.

So, Rianxan was questioning his decisions about the Castle Oblivion mission? From the intensity of the argument, she had sounded quite serious regarding her questions and comments. If this continued, if couldn't end well.

And now, she was going to talk with Namine.

That was something Xemnas did_ not_ want her doing. So far, he had had no trouble convincing the teenager to go to Castle Oblivion with Marluxia as her keeper.

Quickly, Xemnas opened his own portal, intent on intercepting Ria before she arrived at Namine's room.

His plan would not be ruined by an eighteen-year-old woman with too many questions on her mind.

Meanwhile, hidden by a black curtain in front of the balcony, Larxene smiled.

She had just come to the kitchen for a little alcohol and some quiet. When she had heard people coming, she had retreated to the balcony, intent of keeping some semblance of being alone. Still, the closed glass doors hadn't kept the unexpected fight from drifting to her ears.

So, it seemed that Ria was having issues with the mission. Maybe, if she could catch the girl alone later today, she could convince Ria that she agreed with her on all points. Larxene could say she 'accidentally' heard the argument, and be sympathetic to the fact that Zexion hadn't agreed with her. Maybe, just maybe, the ploy would work, and she could hint to Ria about Marluxia's feeling as well, and the plan the scythe-wielder was formulating. They had already approached Axel about joining their cause, and he had seemed interesting.

Well, the plan was coming together better than she could have dreamed.

_**x-x-x-x-x-x-x **_

As a dark portal opened in her room, Namine looked up from her sketching.

"It's been awhile since you've visited, Ria," she said, recognizing the cloaked figure.

Ria nodded, brushing off her coat, and Namine returned to her drawing. She heard Ria's footsteps, and the scrap of a chair across the floor. When she looked up again, she found the older woman sitting a few feet away.

"Are you okay?"

When Ria shook her head, Namine slowly put her pencil down.

"Can I ask you a question, Namine?"

Namine took a moment to really look at the brunette, and found that Ria looked troubled. What could be bothering her?

"Sure," she replied, continuing to watch Ria.

The woman bit her lip, and shifted in her chair a little. Finally, she asked, "How…have you heard about the mission to Castle Oblivion?"

"I have," she said, nodding. "You're going too, aren't you? Xemnas said that Marluxia would be in charge, and that my memory element would be needed. Why do you ask?"

It seemed that Ria was a little surprised by this, and her eyes drifted around the room.

"I, um…how do you feel about the mission?"

Namine frowned, and considered Ria carefully. "I'm not really sure what you mean."

"How do you feel about, well, using your ability with memories?"

Thinking for a second, Namine shook her head. "I still don't know what you mean, Ria. Is there something specific you're talking about? I don't know anymore about the mission other than what I already told you. I'm supposed to find out more later, I believe, otherwise I won't be of much help to Marluxia."

Once again, Ria seemed surprised. She began to speak, but was interrupted as the door suddenly opened.

As Xemnas stepped in, Namine noticed Ria stand swiftly, and place the chair back where she had gotten it.

"Well, this is a surprise," Xemnas said, looking from Namine to Ria. "May I ask why you are here, Number Fourteen?"

"I was just checking on Namine, Superior," Ria quickly replied, "I thought she might like some company."

Before Xemnas could reply, Ria nodded in Namine's direction and gave slight wave, and disappeared through the door and into the hallway. Xemnas watched her go, and Namine frowned as she returned to her sketchbook.

"What did you two talk about?" he suddenly asked, still standing by the door.

Namine shook her head, and swept her pencil in a curved line. "Not much, just a little about the Castle Oblivion mission. She's going, isn't she?"

She looked up briefly, just long enough to see Xemnas nod.

A few seconds later, she heard the door close, and looked up to find Xemnas gone.

* * *

A little short, I know, but it leaves you wondering. The next chapter will be up on Wednesday or Thursday, I promise! 

Thanks for reading, everyone!

Reviews?


	35. Chapter 35

Alright guys, I'll keep the introduction short this time, since I know everyone is wondering what's going to happen next. xD Right now seemed like a good time to update, and this chapter is longer than the past few have been, thankfully.

**Oh, and this is NOT the last chapter, I promise.**

The last one will be Chapter 37, so hang in there for a little while longer.

I own nothing but Ria.

* * *

**The Spirited Reverie**

**By**

**LadyDarkDreamer**

* * *

**Chapter 35:**

"You look troubled, Ria; something wrong?"

Looking up, Ria was surprised to find Larxene leaned against the wall, watching her. What was it today with everyone asking if she was alright? Were all her thoughts somehow visible on her face? She stopped walking, and turned to stare at Larxene for a few seconds.

"I'm…fine," she finally said, turning to leave. She didn't want to deal with the woman right now.

"Well, then you might not mind me asking, but…" Larxene paused, voicing her words carefully, "Is everything alright between you and Zexion? You both seemed…on edge, in the kitchen a little while ago."

At hearing this, Ria froze, slowly turning to look at the blonde. She watched Larxene with hard eyes as the woman pushed away from the wall and took a step toward her.

"How did you…we didn't—"

Larxene held up one hand. "Please, there's no need for excuses. I was on the balcony before you two arrived for breakfast, and heard raised voices when the dispute started. I'm sorry about eavesdropping, if that's what you want to hear," the blonde offered, "But would you possibly like to talk about it? I know I'm not Zexion, or Demyx for that matter, but I am female, and know how our minds work."

Ria opened her mouth to reply, but found that she didn't know what to say. So, Larxene had overheard her disagreement with Zexion? She was still angry over that, and knew she needed some time alone to calm down, but…she felt bad for forcing so many questions on Zexion. He had been here longer than she had, and...

"Ria, I know you're thinking about something. What is it? Maybe I can help."

Meeting Larxene's gaze, Ria took a deep breath and let it out. Maybe Larxene _could_ help.

"It's just…I'm not sure what to think," Ria admitted, "Zexion had been here longer than I have, since the Organization was founded, so I'm sure he knows more about how everything works. But then again, the whole situation with Castle Oblivion bothers me for some reason. You…did you…hear everything?"

A few seconds passed, and Larxene nodded.

"I just…don't get how Xemnas can send us to carry out this mission," she continued, her eyes falling to floor. She heard footsteps, and felt Larxene rest a hand on her shoulder as she continued, "I tried to talk to Namine, but she seemed to have no idea about what she's going to be asked to do. Xemnas is manipulating her, and keeping her prisoner to further his own plots. And I know he's trying to get our hearts back, but…"

"It just seems wrong?" Larxene offered.

When Ria looked up, she found Larxene giving her an understanding look. She frowned and bit the inside of her cheek, then nodded.

"I know how you feel, Ria, I do. I'm skeptical about the mission as well, but there's not much we can do here," she continued. "Even if you asked, I don't think Xemnas would let you back out. You already know more than half of the other members, and he can't risk anyone else finding out. He chose all of us for a reason, so we should go to Castle Oblivion. Only from there could we maybe, I don't know…try and make a few changes."

Ria frowned in surprised, and looked at Larxene for a long while.

"Changes?" she finally asked, not sure what else to say.

The older woman nodded, and looked up and down the hallway before stepping closer to her. Hooking her arm through Ria's, she led the girl down the hall with her at a slow walk.

"I agree with you Ria, on all the points you brought up with Zexion," Larxene said, her voice low, "Namine is being treated like a prisoner, and Xemnas is leading this entire Organization down a bad road. I haven't said anything though, opting to keep my opinions secret until now. At lot of us keep our opinions to ourselves, it seems, because we know Xemnas would hate for us to question him. We're all on the same team, so it's sad to see that we aren't helping each other."

"Larxene, I…" Ria began, but halted.

"You agree, don't you? We're all following Xemnas blindly, without stopping to think about where it's leading us," she asked, and waited. Not knowing what else to do, Ria nodded. "See, I thought so. Just because he made himself to leader, he thinks the rest of us are his pawns. And if we disagree, we end up getting punished. This Organization is a mockery of what it could be, Ria, trust me. I've been talking with a few of the others, namely Marluxia and Axel, but…"

Her thoughts racing, Ria waited for Larxene to continue. What conclusion was the woman coming to? All of this was very intriguing, yet…

Larxene looked over at her, and then shook her head.

"I don't know if you would be interested, but Marluxia and I have been talking. Neither of us agrees with what Xemnas has been doing lately, and we think we may be able to change things a bit. But, you see, we have to have enough members behind us before we can make a move. We've approached Axel with our thoughts, and he seems interesting, especially since the Castle Oblivion mission involves Roxas, and the kid is being kept in the dark about everything. We're pretty sure he'll join, so that makes three of us so far. When I heard you arguing with Zexion, I thought maybe you would be interesting in joining too…?"

At hearing this, Ria immediately stopped walking.

Marluxia, Larxene, and Axel were…goodness, what were they planning? According to Larxene, they were all in against Xemnas's planning of late, and wanted to make changes?

Changes…Larxene was being very, well, vague when it came to things.

Were they planning on…going up against Xemnas? To try and take the Organization from him?

As soon as this thought came to her, Ria felt herself recoil inwardly. Axel was her friend, but if Marluxia and Larxene were planning a rebellion, she didn't want to be a part of it. Xemnas was powerful, and probably the strongest fighter in the entire Organization. Going up against him would surely be suicide to all who participated.

And he was one of the six original members, which meant if she joined, she would be going against Zexion.

But, then again, she couldn't be sure which side he would pick. She couldn't be sure which side any of the other members would choose.

One thing she knew for sure, though, was that she wanted to be on the same side as him. Even if they disagreed, she wanted to be on his side.

She closed her eyes then, suddenly feeling guilty for all the things she had said to him in the kitchen. He had only been trying to answer her questions, and she had raised her voice even though he was trying to help. He had just wanted to know why she felt the way she did.

"Larxene, I really don't think—"

The blonde held up a hand, interrupting her again.

"You don't need to answer now," she said, "We're not even sure if anything is going to happen yet. Just, please think about it; we could use your help."

As Ria tried to gather her thoughts, Larxene let go of her arm and gave a small wave. Turning down another corridor, she started to walk away.

_**x-x-x-x-x-x-x**_

Xemnas stood at the end of the corridor, watching as Larxene disappeared. Ria still stood there, her eye to the floor as she thought.

He had only been able to catch snatches of conversation, but that had been enough.

So, Marluxia and Larxene were possibly planning a rebellion? Larxene and Axel certainly seemed the type to cause trouble, but Marluxia? He had always considered the scythe-wielder one of the more trustworthy members of the Organization, so this had come as a surprise.

Well, he would have to do something about this, before the group left for Castle Oblivion.

And since Larxene and Marluxia seemed to be the leaders, perhaps he could convince Axel to work against them.

Then, he would deal with Rianxan. He couldn't have the girl stirring up trouble right before the mission.

_**x-x-x-x-x-x-x**_

As Axel stood there, he let his eyes wander around the room as he waited for Xemnas to speak. Number One, though, seemed preoccupied with the papers in front of him. Axel continued to note the details of the room, and was pondering whether or not to set the collection of houseplants on fire when Xemnas cleared his throat.

"Yes, Superior?" Axel asked, not bothering to hide the displeasure in his voice. He really didn't want to be here.

Xemnas stared at the redhead for a moment.

"Do not ignite anything into flames, Number Eight," he ordered.

Axel blinked, and managed to keep from smirking.

"Dually noted, Superior."

Xemnas continued to stare at him for several more seconds, and then began, "It as come to my attention, Axel, that there are some untrustworthy members in our midst. The lesser Nobodies are spreading rumors of a rebellion, and that is not a thing I want to hear."

_Uh oh_, Axel thought, _he knows about Marluxia and Larxene and…me?_

Okay, he still wasn't sure if he was including himself in Marluxia's little takeover scheme. But any thoughts he had of joining where better off being squashed now, if Xemnas suspected. He didn't want to end up losing his rank and becoming a Dusk.

"So, Number Eight, that is why I want you to be my eyes and ears Castle Oblivion. If there are any rebels, you are the most likely person to find them," Xemnas continued. "To change the mission now would be disastrous, so it will continue. Either the plotters will show themselves, or they will reconsider. I want you to be alert to all that goes on in the castle, and to take care of things as you see fit."

These words surprised Axel. He stood there, his emerald eyes fixed on Xemnas as the next minute passed.

"Did you hear what I said, Number Eight?"

Quickly catching himself, Axel nodded in response. Unable to think of a way to answer, he simply nodded again; thankfully, Xemnas dismissed him, and he was able to turn and leave.

Xemnas was trusting him, of all the members, to keep a lookout for traitors. Already things were growing tense as the mission grew closer at hand. He had now been approached by both sides, in a way, but what to do?

Well, whatever the hell he deemed necessary. Whatever got him closer to keeping his promise to Roxas, he would do. The fact that he had ties to both the possible rebels and the current power just made everything easier, and a lot more entertaining.

_**x-x-x-x-x-x-x **_

Entering the lounge, Ria sighed as she found it empty. She had already checked most of the other common rooms and every inch of the basements, and still she hadn't found Zexion.

Where could he be?

Turning sharply, she decided to check the labs once more when she ran straight into someone twice her size. She fell backward, catching herself with her hands as something cold spilled on her. It smell strongly of alcohol, and when she looked up, she found Xigbar staring down at her, a half-empty glass in his hands.

"I'm so sorry," she said quickly, standing. "I didn't mean—I'm just in a hurry, so, I'm really sorry!"

She tried to walk around Xigbar, but the man moved to block her path.

"It's fine, newbie, just calm down a second," he replied, "If you had been anyone else, though, you'd be at the mercy of my rage. What's got you in such a rush, anyway?"

Ria couldn't help but smile a little at the man's comment.

"I'm looking for Zexion, but I can't find him anywhere," she admitted. "I just…really need to talk to him."

Xigbar raised an eyebrow. "Zexy, eh? Well, he's the master of shadows, so I doubt you'll find him unless he wants to be found. But your element is spirit, isn't it? Shouldn't you be able to send a thought directly to him? Maybe ask him to meet you somewhere?"

At this, Ria paused and thought a moment.

"You're a genius, Xigbar! Thank you!" she said suddenly, sidestepping around him and heading down the hallway. She turned though, and called, "I'll, I don't know…buy you some more alcohol sometime, to replace the stuff I spilled. Again, sorry about that!"

"Uh, okay," she heard the gunner say as she left, "Thanks, I guess."

As she walked, Ria looked down at her clothing and sighed. She detoured to Zexion's room, not surprised to find the suite empty. Rummaging through the closet, she traded the alcohol-soaked clothing for something clean. Picking a pair of dark blue jeans, she pulled on a black shirt as well, one that had a quarter of the bell sleeves and part of the bottom hem dyed a soft silver. Black boots followed, and she grabbed the first cloak she could find.

Of course, she had somehow managed to grab one of Zexion's cloaks, all of which were a bit long on her. Shaking her head, she zipped up the coat and teleported to the rooftop she now called her own.

_Zexion, meet me on the roof_, she thought as strongly as she could. _Please._

He didn't appear right away, and she hadn't expect him to, so she took a deep breath and sat against the wall. Several minutes passed, and she was beginning to worry that he wasn't going to show when she caught sight of movement in the corner of her eye. As she turned her head, though, she found it was only a white Dusk.

"I didn't call you," she said, a little disappointed that it hadn't been Zexion. "So, if you don't mind, please leave."

The Dusk, however, remained where it was.

"I said leave," she ordered more forcefully, thinking it hadn't heard her. Again, the Nobody ignored her.

Then, it began to speak in the whispery, static-like language that was common among the lesser Nobodies. Ria sighed, but listened closely when she caught her name among the whispering.

_"Superior as given me orders to find you, Mistress Rianxan. He wishes you to come to his office as soon as possible."_

"What does the Dusk want, Ria?"

Caught by surprise, Ria jumped and turned. She found Zexion standing nearby, and quickly got to her feet..

"It says that Xemnas wants to see me," she answered, not bothering to look at the Dusk.

"Well, you should go, then," he instructed, crossing his arms.

Ria shook her head, her hair falling in front of her face. Tucking one part behind her ear, she said, "I need to talk to you, Zexion, so Xemnas can wait."

"You really shouldn't keep—"

"No," she said, interrupting him, "He can wait for me." Glancing at the Dusk, she pointed towards the wall. "You, wait inside the Castle; I'll call you when I'm ready to leave."

_"I was instructed to escort you back—"_

"_Now_, Dusk, before I leave you in pieces in the streets. You can wait ten minutes."

Looking slightly disgruntled and take aback, the Dusk disappeared in a flourish of white.

"You usually aren't very forceful with the Dusks," Zexion observed, watching her.

She looked up, meeting his gaze. "I felt the need to be, at least for a moment," she answered. Another few seconds passed as she took a deep breath. "Zexion, I'm sorry," she began, feeling her stomach tighten, "I shouldn't have acted the way I did earlier, especially when you were just trying to answer my questions. I got frustrated with everything that's been on my mind recently, but I shouldn't have snapped at you."

Though she wanted to look away, she kept her gaze locked with Zexion's, and watched as his eyes softened. He uncrossed his arms, and nodded after a moment.

"It's…I understand where you're coming from, I think," he finally said, "But it still confuses me a little."

It was Ria's turn to nod, and she suddenly felt like she needed to sit down. So, she sat cross-legged against the wall, and patted the ground next to her. Zexion waited a moment, but walked over and sat beside her.

"I'm…I don't think I even understand why it bothers me, especially now," she admitted, looking at the tops of her boots. "Everything is just happening so fast, and I'm not sure what to do. I still want to be part of the Organization, but what Xemnas is making us do just…it goes against the part of me that is still human. I don't want to stand by while memories are influenced, while we use others to further our own goals, and…"

She closed her eyes as she drifted off, relaxing a little when she felt Zexion put an arm over her shoulders.

"Ria, I…I'm not sure how to help," Zexion replied, a little hesitantly, "Would you…would you ever leave here?"

Ria opened her eyes in surprise, and looked over at him.

"Leave?" she asked. "I don't…know, Zexion. I don't think I would ever want to leave the Organization. I consider this place my home, and I couldn't leave everything I know, or leave behind you and everyone I've become friends with. Then again, I guess anything if possible if someone is pushed far enough. But…I just don't know."

When Zexion didn't answer, Ria slid an arm around his waist, and rested her head on his shoulder.

"What do you think you'll do now? Or when we leave for Castle Oblivion?"

Ria opened her mouth to answer, but stopped as the Dusk appeared in front of them.

_"Superior wishes for you to come now, at this moment, Mistress Rianxan. He is tired of waiting, and says your conversation with Master Zexion can wait."_

"Dammit," Ria muttered before she could stop herself. She stood quickly, and glared at the Dusk. "One _more_ minute, and don't go back to Xemnas!"

Zexion stood also, suddenly looking a little worried. He gently touched her elbow, and led her a few feet away from the lesser Nobody.

"I wasn't going to mention this, but after you left, I caught both Xemnas and Larxene's scents nearby," he whispered quickly, "I don't know if it means anything, but please be careful, Ria. I was distracted before by our disagreement, but I think one or both of them may have heard what was said. Xemnas doesn't take well to anyone to questions his decision, so…just be very careful. If he heard…"

Ria eyes widened. "I ran into Larxene, after going to visit Namine," she explained. "Xemnas came in before I could ask her anything, and Larxene found me after. She started talking about—"

_"Mistress Rianxan, if—"_

"Will you be quiet, please?!" Ria demanded, staring angrily at the Dusk from over Zexion's shoulder.

The Dusk watched her for a moment, then disappeared.

Before she could speak, Ria found herself enveloped in a tight embrace. Suddenly feeling a little uneasy, she wrapped her arms around Zexion's neck and rested her head under his chin. For some reason, she really didn't want to see Xemnas right now. If he had heard what she had said that morning…what would he do?

She tensed, and Zexion seemed to sense it. He pulled away a little and she looked up, giving him a questioning look. Another moment passed, and he pressed his lips to hers in a sweet kiss. Though she knew she should go, Ria kissed him back, pushing his hair away from the right side of his face as the kiss deepened.

Finally, she pulled away slowly to breathe. She hugged Zexion on impulse, and was surprised to feel the pressure of tears behind her eyes. She fought to keep them back, though, as she carefully let her arms slide down his shoulders. She let her hair fall before her face in an attempt to keep Zexion from noticing, and let her arms fall to her sides. Offering him a half-smile, she adjusted her cloak and started to turn.

As she opened a portal, she felt a hand grab hers. She turned, and Zexion pulled her over and gave her another quick kiss. As he pulled away, he gave her a half-smile of his own, and gradually let her hand go. She nodded, and brushed away two tears that managed to make it through her defenses as she entered the portal.

There was no reason for her to be crying. She was just going to see Xemnas, and then she'd be able to return to her thoughts. She could pounce on Zexion again, and bother Demyx about his latest composure, and see if Roxas wanted to spar later after they tied Axel to a chair and left him to watch an emotional romantic movie by himself.

But still, why was she crying?

* * *

So...yeah, it's getting closer to the end. Thanks for reading!

Reviews?


	36. Chapter 36

HOLY KINGDOM HEARTS, the document manager finally works!! Thank you Powers That Be!!!!!

Um...yeah. I've been trying for THREE days to get this chapter up, so I'm a little excited...though this chapter is not my favorite. My favorite chapters are the ones where Ria pounces on Zexion, because I find it incredibly amusing.

I own nothing but Ria.

* * *

**The Spirited Reverie**

**By**

**LadyDarkDreamer**

* * *

**Chapter 36:**

"Where have you been, Number Fourteen?"

Ria flinched at hearing this, but forced herself to meet Xemnas's gaze as she stepped further into the room. She let her vision go blurry for a moment, and focused on herself as she stood there. She let her awareness pass from the top of her head down her spine, into her fingers and down to the heels of her boots touching the floor. Finally, she focused her eyes on Xemnas again.

"Never mind, I don't want to hear your excuses," he added, standing up and walking around to the front of his desk.

Not sure what to say, Ria just stood there, trying to look as inconspicuous as possible.

"I am concerned about you, Rianxan," Xemnas continued, "I would begin with the fight you prompted with Axel, once you discovered the destruction of your living quarters, but it's a bit late for that. I would think of an appropriate punishment for you disappearing for several days, but it seems you have already forgiven Axel. And, as I said, it is too late. We are growing closer to the beginning of the Castle Oblivion mission, and I do not have time to deal with trivial things. I need everyone with me on this mission, and that includes you. I will let that occurrence pass, but what I heard today I cannot just forget."

Ria had to keep herself from shifting uncomfortably at hearing this. So, Xemnas _had_ heard her argument with Zexion.

"I accidentally ventured upon your quarrel with Number Six in the kitchen earlier today, and I was quite surprised by it. Out of all the members, I would have thought you to be the one to want your heart back the most. You are the newest of us, and therefore have fresher memories of being able to feel. Yet you stood there in the kitchen, and questioned nearly every aspect of the mission, and even questioned this Organization's following of my leadership. Do you care to explain yourself, Rianxan?"

Great, what was she supposed to do now? Xemnas could probably take anything she said and twist it around, so either way she was screwed.

Taking a breath, she said, "They were just questions, Superior, things that I was wondering about. I didn't mean any harm by them."

Okay, that was a nice, safe answer; surely Xemnas would drop the subject from there.

"Ah, but they were said with such…feeling behind them, Number Fourteen. I doubt that you didn't 'mean anything' by them."

Wrong; now what to do?

Xemnas beat her to it, though. "I also found you questioning Namine, and saw that you were approached by Larxene afterward. I did not hear all of your conversation, but I heard enough to know there is something going on. Larxene approached you with the prospect of joining a possible rebellion against the way I run the Organization, correct?"

Her eyes widening in surprise, and Ria couldn't help but take a step back. She stopped herself, though, as Xemnas slowly strode forward. He stopped in front of her, a little too close for her comfort, but she refused to back up. When she didn't answer in the next minute, he raised his arm and set his fingers on her chin. She jerked her head away, hitting his arm with the back of her left hand as she stepped away.

"I run this Organization as I see fit to, Rianxan, and keep its best interest in mind. If you question me, I see it as a question to your loyalty, and to your wish to regain your heart. I asked you to join us because I saw you as an ally, and an asset to this group. You continue to make me second-guess my decision, though. First with your ridiculous soul theory and your fights with Axel, and now with the questions you directed to Zexion. You are taking part in conversations involving traitorous subjects, and trying to plant ideas and doubts into Namine's mind, when we need her. So far, it seems to me that you are become a liability, but I am wondering how you view the situation. Should I give you another chance, or deal with you according?"

Holy crap, she hadn't been expecting this! Ria frowned, and let her head drop a little even as her hands curled into fists. She wasn't part of any plot of Larxene's, and she certainly hadn't said anything of any consequence to Namine! What was she supposed to do?

"Answer me, Number Fourteen."

Anger flashed in her eyes, and even though she knew Xemnas would see it, she looked up and met his gaze. She was getting tired of being ordered around, and Xemnas had no right to accuse her of anything. Still, she had to try and control herself until she was able to leave.

"Superior, as I said before, I didn't mean any harm by anything—"

"Stop with the vague replies, Ria. Give me a straight answer."

Ria tensed at this, taking a quickly breath as she gathered her courage and look straight into Xemnas's eyes.

"I haven't done anything," she said, her voice even, but hard, "Larxene was the one that sought me out, and brought up the subject of rebellion. I barely said anything on the matter before she left, and I certainly don't want to help her destroy the Organization. And I promise you I didn't say anything to Namine to make her doubt her powers. I just wanted to ask her how she felt about the mission, but she told me she didn't know that much. I wasn't going to tell her anything, because it wouldn't be fair to her, and it wasn't my place to tell her. Please excuse me for being bold, but I think you are jumping to conclusions."

Xemnas's eyes narrowed, and before she could move, he grabbed her upper arm hard.

"I have the right to jump to conclusions, if I believe the well being of this Organization is in danger," he said. "I wonder, if I hadn't called you here today, what you would have done. Would you have joined Marluxia and Larxene, perhaps? Or would you have left us and attempted to make it on your own? I don't take well to the idea of deserters, Rianxan. We are all powerful Nobodies, and we work best when together."

Ria scowled, and tried to wrench her arm from Xemnas's grasp, but his grip only tightened. She flinched, grabbing his wrist and considered the possibility of digging her nails into his skin. That would certainly hurt enough for him to drop her arm.

"Let me go, Xemnas," she demanded, setting her feet so that she wouldn't fall over. When he continued to grip her arm, she dug her nails hard into the leather of his coat and the flesh below it.

He still didn't let her go, only tilted his head and continued to watch her.

Ria set her teeth, and twisted her body around in an attempt to escape his grasp.

"You are feeling anger right now, I believe?" he observed, finally releasing her. She stumbled, but managed to remain on her feet. "But it's a trick; you only think you are feeling anger. Your memories are triggered by your objection to being forced to do things you don't like, and you remember what it was like to feel irritation. It's quite a strong force, the mind, as powerful as the heart in some cases. Namine, I think, will better from the experience of using her power on the Keyblade master. She will learn to focus more, and how to read those around her. She will learn that emotions are not important, at least for right now. You will learn, too, as will everyone during the Castle Oblivion mission."

Touching her arm, Ria flinched as she rubbed the spot where his fingers had tightened. She finally looked up at him, glaring as hard as she could.

"Enough with the lies, Xemnas; I'm so tired of damn things. You've been so long without a heart, so long without a sense of self, that you've forgotten everything," she snapped. "And if that's how I'll become after long, then I don't…" her voice grew quieter, and she broke off, immediately thinking of Zexion. She loved him—that she knew for sure—and she didn't want to leave him, but…

There was that question again: what path would she choose if pushed far enough? Would she contain her own opinions, her feeling and questions just to stay safe, to remain in a place she was used to being in? Or would she defend herself, and refuse to let others push her around?

Ria shook her head, and closed her eyes as she fought to keep more tears back. She didn't want to turn traitor; she didn't want to lose the—life, was that the word?—she had made, or the friends she had come to value. She didn't want to fade away, or to lose the one person she had come to love in this place.

But she also didn't want to participate in things she found herself being against. She had lost so much already, but she didn't want to lose her sense of herself, of who she was. She wasn't completely Ariann anymore, and even if she kept quiet and eventually got her heart back, she would be different. She wouldn't forgive herself for giving in, or for running away, for that matter. She didn't want to die, but...

_"Ria, are you afraid of dying?"_

_Surprised, Ria looked up from the book in her lap and stared at Demyx. He was sitting cross-legged in one of library chairs, his sitar in his lap. Meanwhile, Zexion lounged on the sofa across the coffee table. His back rested against one of the armrests, while he kept one leg straight and the other bent at the knee. She rested on the same couch, using Zexion's chest as a pillow. Somehow, she had managed to fit herself on the sofa with him, without being in danger of falling on the floor._

_She felt Zexion shift a bit, and tilted her head backward enough to catch him glancing at Demyx. His eyes darted to catch her gaze, and then returned to the black print in his own book._

_Turning her attention back to her friend, she considered the unexpected question._

_"I...I'm not really afraid of dying, Dem, I don't think," she replied, after a moment._

_"You aren't?" he asked, looking surprised, "You're not nervous about what comes after? Whether we just, I don't know...fade away into nothingness, or whether we end up in a place like heaven?"_

_Ria blinked, and gave him questioning eyes. "Dem, I'm not so much worried about what comes after, so much as what I'll be leaving behind. Death is something we all eventually have to come to," she answered. "I guess...it's a normal part of living, whether you happen to be human, Heartless, or Nobody."_

_For some reason, they both exchanged a smile at this, and Demyx nodded._

_"What about you? Are you worried about it?" she asked, suddenly curious. She would have sat up, but that would have disturbed both her and Zexion; that, and she probably would have fallen onto the floor and injured something. So, she settled for setting her book down and focusing all of her attention on Demyx. Zexion shifted again, and rested one hand on her shoulder._

_"I'm not sure," Demyx replied, "I've just been thinking about it, and wanted to ask someone. This seemed as good a time as any."_

Death was a normal part of living, whatever kind of being you happened to be.

She wouldn't run away, and she wouldn't give into Xemnas's lies. That only left one option, and…

The space where her heart should have been tightened, and Ria held back a sob. She loved Zexion, but she knew he would understand.

Even though he wasn't here, he _would_ understand.

When she looked up, she found Xemnas watching her intently

"You are thinking of Zexion, and the so-called 'feelings' you have for him, correct? I promise you, Rianxan, he feels nothing for you," he said. "We, after all, cannot feel."

If Xemnas was expecting his words to subdue her, he was wrong; they only made her angrier.

"That's not true, Xemnas! We can feel something, even it's only a small bit of what it was before. We can feel."

Xemnas shook his head, and began walking around her. Ria followed his movements, and took several steps back as his approached. "These feelings are only memories, Number Fourteen, as I have told you before," he said, coming to a halt. "Linger on memories for too long, and you become weak."

Ria shook her head, taking another step back. "If realizing and remembering who I am, and who I used to be, makes me weak…then so be it. And if forgetting that makes you so strong, what will you do if you finally get back your heart?"

"I will adjust," he answered simply.

"You are a fool, Xemnas. You'll never get your heart back."

Her decision mentally complete, Ria took a deep breath and centered herself. Calling her dual fans into her hands, she opened her eyes and took her battle stance, and waited.

Xemnas raised his eyebrows in response.

"If this is your choice, then you are as much a fool as I am. You will never regain your heart, either."

"Maybe," she replied, "But it's my decision, isn't it?"

_Please understand, Zexion, _she thought_, please understand that this was my decision, and I love you, but I chose this._

Her grip on her weapons tightened as she met Xemnas's amber gaze determinedly, and she silently hoped that Zexion would remain where he was, and wouldn't interrupt the battle. The odds were against her for this fight, and she knew that. She probably wouldn't see Zexion again, but sending that thought was the best she could do.

The emptiness that occupied the space of her heart clenched again, and she pushed away the sadness.

Her thoughts dissolved into instinct as Xemnas extended his palms, and a red aerial blade appeared in each. He gave her one more considering look, before jumping into the air.

Ria looked up quickly, following his movements as he dropped to the ground. She performed a cartwheel in the opposite direction, setting her feet as Xemnas descended on her. She brought both fans up, ignoring the protest in her shoulders as she blocked a swift downward slash. Keeping one fan open to use as a shield, she closed the other and slashed horizontally. Twisting her left wrist up and outside, she brought that fan down and pushed forward. Xemnas spun in a half-circle, avoiding the attack and catching her back with a hard tap of one blade.

Stumbling, Ria used it to her advance and fell automatically to one knee, throwing one fan and used her magic to force it back. It hit Xemnas's shoulder, but he didn't seem affected by it. Another blade entered her vision, and she rolled to one side and sliced upward. Xemnas blocked it, and Ria began defending again as he began attacking. She parried the blows and managed to get in a few of her own. Seeing an opening, she dropped once against and tried to sweep his feet out from under him.

Xemnas was expecting the attempted, though, and moved at the last second. He then caught the one foot she was using her balance with the end of open blade and forced her onto her back.

Tapping into her magic again, Ria leapt to her feet and tossed her fans into the air. The individual blades separated, and she stepped back quickly, using her elements to propel them at Xemnas and slash at him. The man surprised her by creating a square wall as he sidestepped, knocking a good number of the blades to the ground. He then teleported in a shimmer of air, and Ria barely had time to summon her fans back as he appeared beside her.

Dodging one blade, she flinched as the other caught her side. Pain radiated from it, and she did her best to ignore it as she blocked Xemnas overhand slash. She followed with an upward arc of her own. When he blocked that, she quickly did the same with her other fan, managing to cut his chest. She pressed forward quickly, only to be knocked back as Xemnas conjured another wall in her way.

Leaping into the air, Ria flipped over the barrier and twisted around as she landed, hoping to catch one of his hands.

He surprised her though, forcing her backward and following with slashes that she felt hit her shoulder, upper back and knee. She crossed both fans in front of her immediately, stopping another slash as she tried to pushed forward. Xemnas was stronger, though, and forced her onto her back with one heave.

"So, you not longer even wish to even exist? Do you long for death, to fade from this world?" he asked.

Ria didn't reply; instead, she sat up, and starting to get to her feet. She wouldn't waste breath giving Xemnas an answer.

"You are a liability, Rianxan, to this Organization. And because of that, I will hurry your return to nothingness."

He attacked immediately, barely giving her time to recover. Ria blocked as much as she could, sidestepping and getting in a lucky slash or two. She ignored the pain in her body, and forced herself to focus on the fight entirely. She blocked both blades again, taking a risk as she stepped towards Xemnas and brought her knee up hard, hitting his stomach. He grunted and pushed her away, and she managed to roll to her feet slice Xemnas's unprotected back.

He quickly pivoted on one foot, once again forcing her to rely on defense. As she stepped and blocked, Ria realized her energy was beginning to run out. She had used most of her magic to strengthen her fans so they could shield her from Xemnas's blades, but that magic was running low.

She moved quickly, wanting to hold out as long as she could. Another dodge, and she cut his shoulder, taking another blow to her side in consequence. She focused her magic, halting the descent of one blade. The other one came hard, knocking one fan from her hand as she took the offensive. She called it to her hand again, and began to push Xemnas back when he suddenly disappeared.

She turned quickly, and saw Xemnas jump over her, tossing one of his blades into the middle of the room. Too late, she realized that that one blade had turned to dozens, and didn't have time to jump into the air to avoid their approach.

Panicing, she reached for the rest of her magic, quickly forming a shield around herself. The blades hit the shield a second later, and with such force that she stumbled back as pain hit her skull unexpectedly. Before she could react, Xemnas appeared before her, hitting her right wrist with one blade. She flinched and dropped the weapon, and Xemnas took a single step forward and hit her left side with both blades.

The momentum forced her back, and she hit the ground on her side a second later. Her head impacted with the marble floor, and her vision turned askew as she took in a harsh breath. Slowly, Ria forced herself to sit up and get to her knees, looking up at Xemnas with a defiant stare. She hissed in pain as her fingers and limbs began to tingle, and forced herself to take a deep breath, even as she noticed that dark energy was beginning to swirl around her.

Even as she realized what was happening, she tried to stand, but crashed to her knees. Pressing one hand hard against the floor, she looked up at him.

"You will never get your heart back, Xemnas. Never," she whispered as loud as she could. She wasn't sure he had even heard her as he walked away, but when he turned, she knew he had. Another moment and he was there beside her, knocking her aside with one of his aerial blades.

The weapon impacted, feeling as though it broke several of her ribs as Ria fell to onto her side.

She laid there, her cheek pressed to the floor, for what seemed like a very long time. Her sight was sketchy and harsh, and it hurt so much to breathe. Her head spun as she blinked, and she felt her eyes shimmer with tears as she opened them. She didn't know how long she stayed there, just trying to remain conscious, but Xemnas's boots appeared at the edge of her vision. They vanished quickly, and she couldn't even hear the thud of his steps hitting the marble floor. Swirls of darkness grew thicker around her, and she let out a painful breath. She drew in another stabbing gasp of air, and it hissed through her teeth as she let it out again.

Her power was leaving her, so much that she didn't even have the energy to push herself off the white floor. The color, and it had been since the day she arrived, was sharp and painful.

Another jagged breath, and she focused her mind on the image of Zexion. She struggled to ignore the pain and remember the just him. The first thing that came to find were his dark-and-ice eyes, and the sounds of his voice as he spoke. She held onto that, and slowly began to let go.

Her grip slowly loosened on the one weapon she had in her left hand, while her vision blurred completely into a mass of white, silver, salt and black. Taking one more deep breath, she forced herself to tighten her left palm around the blades of the fan. The edges pinched painfully as they cut into her skin, bringing her back enough into consciousness to allow her to focus her power. She gathered the remainder of her energy, and sent one last thought.

_I'll always remember you, Zexion._

She let out the breath slowly, closing her eyes and letting herself relax as the darkness enveloped her.

A long moment later, she faded.

* * *

Yes, I wrote that, and didn't have any enjoyment in the action. Hopefully, this chapter wasn't rushed, and that I gave Ria a fitting last fight and ending. I know some people are gripping the edges of their desks, going "WHY did she have to die?! Why did you make her die??! She has to come back!" I'm sorry for having to end the story like this, but trust me, it needed to happen. There's one more chapter left...and I actually had some last-minute inspiration for that, so it will be a few days.

AND at the end of the final chapter, I have a VERY important bit of news. Trust me, everyone will like it, I think.

Reviews?


	37. Chapter 37

Yes, I know the alerts currently aren't working, but I decided it was time for the last chapter to be posted. Hopefully the emails, alerts, and PMs will start working soon.

Heavens, I never expected this chapter to be so long! It was nearly fourteen pages when I finally finished...which is actually very fitting since Rianxan's number is fourteen. I also want to say that I never expected so many people to tell me they cried during the 36th chapter. I'm sorry about that, but I'll take it as a compliment; I never thought my writing could make anyone emotional! Anyway, while writing this I was listening to my favorite band, Lifehouse (they rocks!) and almost cried a few times myself. I haven't yet, but I might by the time I finish rereading this and posting it.

Thank you so much for reading guys, and I hope this last chapter is good! And please read the ending author's notes, because there's some important news there.

I own nothing but Rianxan, her counterpart Ariann, and her weapons.

* * *

**The Spirited Reverie**

**By**

**LadyDarkDreamer**

* * *

**Chapter 37:**

Sitting against the wall of the rooftop, Zexion let his mind drift, not really focusing on any one thought. He would wait here until Ria returned, and then he would take her on an unexpected trip to Twilight Town he had just planned. Hopefully, they'd be able to change into normal clothes and make it out of the Castle before anyone realized they were missing. If luck was with them, they would make it out without Lexaeus asking for help in the lab, or Demyx and Roxas asking to come along.

Taking a deep breath and letting it out, Zexion's eyes snapped open and he caught the scent of two powers. One was part of a large backlash, and the other…the other was fading fast.

Then he felt the brush of another's consciousness, the barest of flutters on the edge of his mind.

His chest tightened, and he swiftly got to his feet, trying to focus on the location of the power…

_I will always remember you, Zexion._

…and froze where he stood.

Her voice filled his mind, and it was very weak. Zexion jerked his head to the side, his eyes locking on the nearby wall as he reached out with his own power. The flicker that had touched his mind before was quickly slipping, and he tried desperately to hold onto it.

"Ria, don't give up, don't leave like this…" he whispered.

He reached out frantically, putting all of his energy into trying to pull her back. His suddenly felt weak as the feeling in his chest worsened, and he pressed his right hand painfully hard against the wall to steady himself. He searched, reaching out as far as he could…

…but she was gone.

_Please_, he thought desperately.

Pushing violently away from the wall, Zexion opened a portal, telling himself he could make it. He could find her, he could save her, he could…

His head lowering, Zexion closed the portal with a minute movement of his hand. Her scent was fading; that wonderful combination of smoke and lilies was disappearing, leaving the Castle as though it never existed. As though Ria had never been here.

_She…she was gone._

Zexion turned slowly back to the wall, his hand coming to rest on it as before. His eyes closed, and he pressed his back against the wall as his legs folded under him. Gradually he slid down the stone, coming to sit with his arms resting against his knees. Letting out a shaking breath, he let his head drop into his hands, using them as a last defense to keep back the first tears he had felt in a very long while.

_**x-x-x-x-x-x-x**_

"We are Nobodies," Xemnas chanted, his hands clasped behind his back, "We are accepted by neither the light nor the dark, and are therefore not supposed to exist. We have no hearts, no feelings, no emotions to speak of. Rianxan, Number Fourteen, is a traitor. She did not believe in this Organization, in our goals and our beliefs."

Zexion breathed evenly, not acknowledging nor disapproving of Xemnas's speech in any physical manner. He did not watch his Superior; instead, he stared out of the window and waited for Xemnas to stop speaking. He didn't want to hear what the Nobody had to say.

He didn't care anymore, at least when it came to Xemnas. He still felt loyalty to the Organization, but that didn't mean he had to feel loyalty towards their so-called 'leader'.

Xemnas had been the one to kill Ria; his power and aerial blades had led to her death, and she was truly a great loss to them.

At least, that's what Lexaeus had said to him before the meeting. Zexion had spent the few hours after realizing Ria's death alone, because he felt it had been the right thing to do. He hadn't wanted to see anyone, to talk to anyone until he felt damn good and ready too. But his colleague had interrupted him, saying Xemnas had called an important meeting.

_"I'm not going, Lexaeus," Zexion said, the anger in his voice rising even as his hands curled into fists, "I don't want to sit around and listen to him tell us about how we don't have hearts, how we are nothing, or any of his other mantras. She's gone, and he's to blame. Just go, and tell everyone I quit."_

_Lexaeus frowned, thoroughly confused at what he had just heard._

_"Zexion, what are you talking about?"_

_Slowly, the smaller man turned, staring up at him with fierce eyes._

_"I quit the Organization, Lexaeus; I don't want to spend another hour like the ones before, working endlessly towards nothing," Zexion answered, his voice low. "The days will never be the same, so what am I supposed to do? What should I do?! She…she was…"_

…the closest thing I had to a heart_, he finished in his mind, feeling his chest constrict in hurt._

_"What is the matter, Zexion? You aren't making any sense at all."_

_Zexion stared at his fellow scientist for several seconds, angered that the man couldn't understand._

_"She's gone, Lexaeus, she's dead…faded," he whispered._

_It pained him so much to speak the words, so much so that he stopped breathing for a moment and lowered his head._

_Rianxan, his spirited daydreamer, was gone._

_Faded._

_"Who, Zexion?"_

_His thoughts interrupted, Zexion looked up._

_"Ria," he said, "She's gone."_

_How many times would that word echo in the empty spot where his heart should be?_

"She was against our experiments, our plans, our very purpose to regain our hearts. But we do not have to worry about her any longer; she is gone, eliminated by my own hand and faded back into nothingness. She was a liability, and deserved her ending," Xemnas continued steadily. "Now, forget her. From this moment on, Number Fourteen never existed. The Spirited Reverie will disappear, and will never be mentioned again within the walls of this Castle."

Xemnas stopped for a moment, and Zexion could only guess that he was looking around.

Was he already finished? It seemed a lot to hope for.

_Before he knew what was happening, Zexion felt strong hands on his shoulders, shaking him forcefully. He looked up, and was met with Lexaeus's hard gaze._

_"What happened, Zexion?"_

_He blinked, wondering why Lexaeus would ask a question like that._

_"Xemnas called her to meet with him, and we…talked before she left," he slowly replied. "I was waiting for her here, but then I sensed a rise in Xemnas's power, and hers declining. She was fading, Lexaeus, and I couldn't do anything. She sent me one last thought, and I couldn't even hold onto her as she left. I wasn't there when she needed me most, and she…"_

_He broke off, and tried to shrug off Lexaeus's hands, but the larger man only tightened his grip and shook him again._

_Zexion glared up at him. "Let me go," he said fiercely, "I'm leaving."_

_But Lexaeus only shook him for a second time, harder. When Zexion tried to protest, the man shook him yet again._

_"Listen to me, Zexion: if what you said is true, you did the right thing. If you had gone and tried to save her, or confront Xemnas, you could have been lost as well. Losing one good member is a terrible thing, but losing two would be worse. We need you, Number Six, this Organization needs you. Listen, and trust me when I say what you did was not wrong."_

_"But she died alone," Zexion countered, scowling as he twisted out of Lexaeus's grasp, "We may be Nobodies, but we shouldn't have to fade alone!"_

_Lexaeus seemed surprised to hear Zexion shout, since it was something that rarely happened._

_"It's true, Zexion, she probably did fade alone, and I'm sorry. I don't know what more I can say, other than that. We shouldn't have to die by ourselves, but most of us will probably meet our ends like that. Rianxan was strong, Zexion, and I have no idea what happened between her and Xemnas, but my reasoning is that she went down fighting. Whatever decision she made up until that point, was hers to make."_

_"But—" Zexion began to protest, but Lexaeus held up a hand._

_"Let me finish, please?"_

_The look in Zexion's eyes was severe, but he gave a curt nod._

_"The choice was hers to make, and it seems she made it quickly. The Organization needs you, Zexion; you cannot just leave, not right on the eave of our mission in Castle Oblivion. I realize I never spent that much time with Rianxan, but she was a strong-minded person, cared for others, and tried her hardest to get things done. She wouldn't want you to give up your work Zexion, not when we are so close to achieving our goal. I imagine she wouldn't want you to throw away your life, not when you could really have the chance to live so close in the future. Please, don't make a rash decision because you are angered by her death."_

"Now, we have more pressing matters at hand," Xemnas finished. "The move the Castle Oblivion is approaching, and will continue as planned even though Number Fourteen in now deceased; Marluxia, you and the others leave in two weeks. Those of us remaining will continue with our normal missions. We are no longer just the Organization—we are Organization XIII, and there will be no more new members."

Zexion sat silently after the dismal meeting, lost in his own thoughts. _He's wrong, _he thought, _Xemnas is wrong. We can feel..._

_**x-x-x-x-x-x-x**_

"Has something happened, Zexion? Usually I'm left alone during the day, but now everyone is taking turns watching me."

Glancing up at Naminé, Zexion sat in the only other chair in the room. He had been standing and walking around for the last six hours of his shift, and he was getting tired.

After the meeting, Xemnas has announced that everyone would be taking turns watching Naminé, in blocks of six hours. This had been nearly a week ago, and as much as everyone hated it, the schedule was working out fine. Zexion was among the group that disliked the work, but it was Xemnas's order. As much as he would like to ignore the Superior, he had promised himself he would stay with the Organization until the end.

Anytime now, someone else would be coming to watching Naminé for the next shift, and he could leave.

"Zexion?"

He lifted his head, remembering that she had asked a question. He opened his mouth to answer, but stopped as he realized he wasn't sure what to say.

Yes, many things has happened in such a short time. Ria had died—and for reasons that Zexion was still having trouble understanding—, Xemnas has told them they would not be looking for any new members, and for some reason he didn't trust Naminé to be left by herself anymore. That, and Vexen was off at Castle Oblivion, trying to shape it to amplify the young teenager's power with memories.

But how much of this had Naminé actually been told?

Probably very little, which meant Zexion shouldn't tell her anything. He should just shake his head and say nothing was wrong, or just ignore the inquiry altogether.

But as he watched Naminé, he heard all of Ria's questions in his head, and felt he owed the girl at least a small explanation.

Standing once again, he walked slowly over to one of the windows and looked out at the city.

"Naminé…something did happen about a week ago," he said, trying to keep his voice even, "Ria…she's gone."

It was still hard for him to speak about her, but he managed to keep his voice from showing everything he was feeling. He looked over his shoulder at Naminé a moment later, and found the girl's eyes filled with consideration. She tilted her head a little to one side, her hands slowly relaxing as she rested her sketchpad on her lap.

"You don't mean she's simply gone on a mission, do you?" she asked, her tone soft.

Zexion let his eyes drop to the floor, and nodded.

"You mean that she died, faded back into darkness."

Surprised, Zexion turned and gave Naminé a questioning look, all the while feeling his chest tense.

"How…do you know about that?" he asked carefully.

Naminé held his gaze for a few long moments, until finally she blinked and looked down at her latest drawing. She lifted her pencil, but let her hand drop again.

"Xemnas told me, a few days ago," she replied, voicing her words carefully. "He said there would only be six members going with me to Castle Oblivion now. When I asked why, he said he had discovered that Ria was a traitor, and that he had eliminated her. Is all that true, Zexion?"

When she met his gaze again, Zexion saw genuine question in her eyes. He quickly masked any outrage he felt behind a cool mask, and stood a few steps towards her.

"I…" he paused, part of his mind telling him he shouldn't answer her questions. But once again, he felt he chest tighten in sorrow at the thought that Ria was actually gone. She had treated Naminé as a younger sister of sorts, during the time the girls were together. The least he could do was answer her to best he could.

"Yes?"

Taking another step towards her, Zexion crossed his arms over his chest. "No, I don't think what Xemnas said is true," he replied, shaking his head, "I wasn't there when they fought, but I scented the clash of power between them. As far as I know, Ria was not a traitor. I…we were very close, so I think I would have known is something was going on. She was the newest of our number, so I can only imagine that she felt more strongly than most of us. She cared about others, and…"

He found the teenager giving him a long look again. Naminé nodded, and straightened her back as she sat up.

"She was one of the nicest out of everyone," she said, shutting her eyes for a moment. "You loved her, didn't you?"

Zexion was caught by surprise, and opened his mouth to reply when a knock came from the door. As he turned his attention to it, the white door opened and Demyx stepped in, looking a little hesitant as he caught sight of the schemer.

"I, um, am supposed to cover the next shift," he said, scratching the back of his head. He gave Naminé a smile and a small wave, which she returned.

Zexion nodded and adjusted his cloak, moving to leave the room. Demyx stepped further in, taking Zexion's seat as he departed. Zexion paused at the door, though, when Naminé called his name.

Turning, he raised his eyebrows in question. "Yes?"

Naminé gave him another long look, and said, "I'm sorry."

Zexion stood there for several seconds, finally closing the door when he realized that Demyx was also watching him now. Opening a portal to his room, he took off his cloak and boots and left them on the floor uncaringly. He hadn't slept in the past five days, opting to keep himself busy in the labs or reading, rather than facing restless hours and spiteful nightmares.

But now, he felt sleep reaching for him as he climbed under the covers.

Once comfortable, he closed his eyes, and fell.

_**x-x-x-x-x-x-x**_

_Falling._

_He was falling, that much he knew. He also felt the pressure of darkness all around, but he wasn't afraid of it. The darkness was there, it existed, but it did not want him._

_It was calming, actually, at least in his mind. His thoughts extended to the awareness of falling, of simply being there._

_Then, he stopped falling, and quiet footsteps echoed around him. It wasn't so much a sensation of stopping or of hitting ground, as one of merely waking up. _

_As the steps grew closer, Zexion did his best to ignore them, only wanting to continue his fall…_

…_until he felt a hand touch his shoulder._

_"Zexion?"_

_With the touch came a rush of familiar energy, and the scent of lilies._

_He stopped breathing then, his chest constricting in remembrance as he opened his eyes. He found himself staring at a floor made of stained glass, a mixture of crimson, azure, green, bright yellow, violet, and white. The pressure of the hand on his shoulder increased slightly, and dozens of questions and thoughts flooded his mind. Raising his head a bit, he blinked to bring his vision back into focus, only to halt as he felt something wet hit his neck, and slide slowly down his collarbone._

_The sensation came again, and Zexion touched one hand to his neck as he sat up, absentmindedly realizing his gloves were gone. Looking down at his hand, he found his fingers slick with what looked like water._

_Then the hand slid away from his shoulder, and he turned, his eyes widening as his gaze met a recognizable one of green-gold._

_Resting there on her knees beside him, dressed in a black-and-silver shirt and dark jeans, was Rianxan._

_Surprise immediately took over his features then, only to be pushed aside by concern as he realized she was crying._

_She offered him a half-smile, but it disappeared as she tried to hold back a small sob. Before he could say anything, or even move another inch, she threw her arms around his neck, taking them both to the ground as she pressed herself close to him._

_Zexion instinctively wrapped his arms around her waist, pulling her close and pressing his cheek against hers. She lay half on top of him, and he could hear her quiet sobs as she cried against his shoulder. He did his best to calm her, ignoring all the questions filling his mind—part of him wondered what was going on, wanted to know where he was and how he had gotten here. But none of that mattered right at this moment; what did matter was that he was here with Ria, and she needed him._

_He shifted a little, slowly sitting up and settling Ria in his lap. He kept one hand resting on her waist, using the other to rub her back in small circles in an attempt to help her calm down. He didn't have the heart to ask her what was wrong, at least not yet. Minutes passed, and her tears slowly stopped. It look a little while longer for her to relax, and during that time, Zexion couldn't believe how good it felt to have her in his arms again._

_"I've missed you so much," he whispered, finally feeling it was the right time to speak._

_As she pulled away slightly, he looked at her for a long time. Ria wiped her tears away with her fingers and one of her shirt-sleeves, embracing him tightly again._

_"I'm so sorry, Zexion," she said, as he felt her shake her head, "I didn't want to leave, but I was left with no choice. I didn't even have the chance to say goodbye to you before the fight with Xemnas, and…"_

_Zexion rested his hands on her shoulders as she broke off, ending the embrace. He was met with a look of confusion before her eyes fell to the ground, and he rested a hand under her chin and gentle lifted it._

_"You don't need to explain, Ria," he reassured her, "I understand."_

_She opened her mouth to reply, and looked from left to right before meeting his eyes again. Ria gave him a halfhearted smile, and a small nod._

_Returning the smile, Zexion carefully laced his fingered through hers and helped them both to stand. Taking a moment to look around, he found they were on a large rounded platform. The surround area was dark, but an enough light filtered up through the stained glass at their feet to illuminate the area._

_Turning to Ria, he found her watching him. "Where are we?" he asked, keeping his voice soft._

_Ria shook her head in response, stepping closer to him. They hugged again, and she let out a soft sigh as she rested her head on his shoulder._

_"I'm not sure," she said, "I just know I've been here for a long while, waiting for you."_

_Zexion was surprised to hear this. He pulled away, giving her a questioning look. "For me?"_

_"Yeah," she said, nodding, "I didn't want to leave without saying goodbye to you, or at least seeing you one last time. I don't know how real this is, but it feels…genuine …"_

_Suddenly, Zexion had a thought._

_"Ria…are we dreaming?" he asked hesitantly, pain in his voice._

_He watched as her eyes softened, and mirrored his own._

_"I…I think so."_

_Zexion let his eyes fall to the lovely colored pattern on the floor. So, he was dreaming, which meant…this couldn't last long. This would be the very last time he would see her…and he could feel the empty space of his heart aching._

_"You are the Spirited Reverie, after all," he replied, trying to mask the emotion he was feeling. One look at Ria, though, and he knew it wasn't working. "How much time do we have?"_

_She shook her head again. "I'm not sure, but…I know you can't sleep forever. I just…I wanted to see you one last time, Zexion, and let you know that it was my decision to leave. I hated making it, because I didn't want to leave you behind, but I knew you—"_

_"—would understand," they finished together._

_Before she could say more, Zexion pull her in for a long kiss. It started out slow, as if he were afraid the dream might end then and there. But when he felt her kiss back, he deepened it and pulled her close._

_The kiss ended a minute later, but they stood there, just enjoying each other's company in the soothing quiet._

_"Do you know what will happen, after…" he asked, but found himself unable to say the words._

_Ria tightened her arms around him, and shook her head. Though he couldn't see her face, he had a feeling she was crying again._

_"I…I talked to Axel once, after that time Demyx asked me if I was afraid of dying," she said, her voice cautious, "Everyone was gone on missions, and he was convinced I needed to try that sea-salt ice cream he and Roxas like so much." She laughed a little at this, and Zexion smiled, glad to hear the beautiful sound. "He's not really the philosophical type, but from what I could get out of him, it seems as though he's convinced that Nobodies have a next life. I…I think I believe him, Zexion. If we have a next life, I want to meet him again, even if the redhead is annoying. I want to meet him, and Roxas, Demyx, Lexaeus, and even Larxene and Vexen. But most of all, I want to meet you again, Zexion."_

_She moved away to look up at him, and he half-smiled._

_"You are quite the dreamer, Ria," he said._

_She smiled, and pressed her lips to his in a short, sweet kiss._

_"I think we're all dreamers, Zexion, in a way."_

_They held each other's gazes for a long while, and he finally nodded. Ria moved to step closer to him, but stopped as she noticed a wave composed of gold and darkness swirl over her hand and disappear. Zexion noticed that she had that faraway look in her eyes again, and remembered distantly that her magic had manifested itself as golden lines in the air._

_When her attention came to focus on him again, he set two fingers on her lips to keep her from speaking._

_"I know," he said gently, pulling her into yet another embrace. She seemed surprised for a moment, but hugging him tightly._

_"I miss you," she said, and Zexion moved so that he could rest his forehead against hers._

_As he stroked her hair, pushing it away from her face and behind her ear, he fought to keep from crying himself._

_"You still haven't given me back that cloak you borrowed," he said, in an attempt to keep the situation lighthearted._

_She laughed a little at this, and let one of her hands follow the curve of his arm. She moved his hand so that she could hold it, and squeezed it lightly._

_"I think I lost it," she said, as he moved to wipe the new tears from her cheeks, "But I'll find it and give it to you eventually."_

_He gave her a slightly playful and skeptical look, but nodded._

_Looking down, they both saw another spiral of gold and black, and Ria caught his gaze. Her eyes held a sort of bright sadness, and that was both happy and sorrowful at the same time._

_Slowly letting go of his hand, she turned and walked to the very edge of the platform. More of the swirling darkness began to envelope her as she sat on the edge, her knees hanging over. She brought one hand up, moving her dark brown hair away from the right side of her face. She turned and watched him over her shoulder for a moment, before she disappeared._

Sitting up, Zexion rubbing his eyes and ran a hand through his hair. As he slid out from under the covers, he slowly walked over to the window, forcing himself not to look towards his closet, or anywhere else that Ria's belongings happened to be scattered. Still, his eyes drifted to the moomba he had given her, sitting alone on the bedside table. He hadn't yet gotten up the courage to move her things.

He started to sit in the chair beside the window, but was interrupted by an almost inaudible knock on his door. Sighing, he grabbed his boots and coat from the floor, put them on, and went to see who wanted him.

Much to his surprise, he found Demyx standing outside his suite.

To make things even stranger, Naminé was with him.

"What is she doing out of her room?" he asked, his features hardening as both blond Nobodies looked his way.

Demyx flinched slightly, and raised his palms in surrender.

"Okay, just give me a second to explain? I have a good reason for taking her out," he replied quickly, pausing to glance up and down the hallway. Find it clear, he opened a dark portal and stepped away from the door. "Would you come with us, please? We have something to show you."

Zexion frowned, watching Demyx for a few seconds.

"Demyx, I don't know what your planning, but you need to take Naminé back to her room. If Xemnas finds out—"

He stopped when Naminé took a step forward, and touched his arm gently.

"Please, Zexion?" she asked, "It's important."

Her request surprised him, but he considered it for a moment.

"How long will it take?" he inquired, crossing his arms.

"Not long, I promise," Demyx replied, glancing up and down the corridor again. He shifted a bit, and looked to Zexion.

Finally, the schemer nodded and followed the two into the portal. Demyx closed it with a wave of his hand, and soon they exited another…onto the rooftop where Zexion had last spoken to Ria, right before she had left to meet Xemnas.

He stopped walking, about to demand to know why Demyx had brought him here. He felt a hand touch his shoulder, though, and looked up to find Lexaeus standing beside him.

That was when he noticed the candles lining the edge of the rooftop. They varied in size and ranged in color from silver, to cream to white. In his mind, he counted their number, and realized there were thirteen in all. Each one was lit, and they were giving off the smell of lilies.

Confused, Zexion looked from Demyx to Lexaeus, only to halt when he spotted Roxas, Axel, Larxene, and—much to his shock—Xigbar, standing by the wall.

He lowered his arms to the side, and gave Lexaeus a questioning look. The taller man shook his head, though, and looked to Demyx. As Zexion turned his attention to the musician, Demyx stepped forward, and handed him a single candle.

"This was my idea," the blond explained, "I thought if might be helpful if, maybe, we had a type of memorial for Ria. I know you probably want to be alone, but…she meant something to us all, especially to you. We thought you would like to be here for it. I was careful to keep this from Xemnas and Saix, so we should be fine until I have to take Naminé back."

Zexion just stood there, not entirely sure what to say. Almost half of the Organization was here on the rooftop, according to Demyx, to remember Ria.

Had she really affected so many of their lives?

Glancing down at the candle in his hands, he frowned.

"What are the candles for?" he asked.

"There are fourteen of them, Zexy," Axel said, striding forward, "Since she was the fourteenth member. We thought you might like to light to last one."

Finally understanding, Zexion nodded, and Axel reached for a tall, slim candle that Larxene had been holding. He created a small fireball in one hand, and lit the wick of the candle. He handed it carefully to Zexion, and the schemer slowly took it, and lit the candle Demyx had given him. Axel took the slim one back, shaking it to extinguish the flame, and stepped back. Looking up at the other thirteen candles, Zexion walked to the edge of the roof and kneeled. He studied the flame for a long while, before setting it down among the others.

As he stood, he heard footsteps and the rustle of cloaks as the others moved to stand around him.

After a minute or two, Larxene decided to break the silence. "So, I don't mean to sound blunt, but should we say something? Maybe?"

Everyone seemed to consider this idea, but no one said anything. Eventually, Larxene sighed and rolled her eyes.

"Fine, I'll start, since no one seems to want to jump at the chance. However much it seems like beings without hearts shouldn't be doing this, we might as well put forth an effort," she said, looking down at the candles. "I just want to say that Ria was an interesting person. She was the only other female in our little group before Naminé came, so I preferred her company to that of the rest of you morons. It'll be a sad place without her."

After this, everyone shifted and shot her a variety of looks. One could always trust Larxene to be direct

"And thank you for that riveting speech, Larxene," Axel chimed in, patted her on the shoulder. He smirked when Larxene scowled at him and threatened to cut off several body parts. Turning to the candles, Axel gestured at them with one hand, and the flames grew a bit. "Well, the only thing I can really say is that she was one hell of a fighter, and I hope she gave Xemnas a run for his existance—no offense to Xigbar, of course. Why are you here, anyway?"

Xigbar laughed, and shrugged in response.

"Hey, like Larxene said, Ria was an interesting character," he answered, "And besides, she got Zexy to open up."

"I would appreciate it if you wouldn't call me that," Zexion said, giving Xigbar a hard look.

The shooter smiled, but kept quiet. No one else offered to say anything more, and he was perfectly happy with that. Zexion didn't know how long he stood there, staring at the flames, but it must have been a long while. Gradually, each of the other members began to leave, opening portals of darkness. He wasn't sure what order they left in, but it didn't really matter. He did know, though, that Lexaeus was one of the last, leaving only Demyx and Naminé.

He felt them watching him, until Demyx finally whispered, "We should give him some time to himself, Naminé. I need to get you back to your room before someone realizes you're missing, anyway; my shift is almost up."

A little while later, Zexion took a deep breath, taking in the lily scent of the candles. They weren't nearly as strong as Ria's scent had been, but they were close.

Looking up from the candles, he took in the view of the city, and then focused on the stars.

Rianxan, the one thing he had loved in his years of missing a heart, was gone.

Yet, his allegiance was still to the Organization…no, it was Organization XIII now; he would have to remember that.

Ria was gone, but she had told him she would always remember him.

And he knew he would always remember her. Even if she wasn't here to remember him, he would remember for the both of them; he would live for both of them to the best of his ability.

He would remember her, but it was hard to know that she was really gone, and that he was still here.

So, for her, he would continue to strive for a real heart. He would continue to live the best he could, like he had before she had arrived, even though he knew it would be different. He wasn't the same man he had been three months ago. He would continue on, but…

…he would never forget the lessons Ria—no, her true name was Ariann. She had once said if she ever regained her heart, she would use her original name once more. So, he would remember her by her true name.

He would never forget all the things Ariann had taught him, and all the times he had spent with her.

Studying the stars more closely, he focused his attention on the sky and not on his thoughts. Still, his mind drifted until, eventually, he was reminded of past memories.

_"Zex?"_

_"Hm?"_

_He was half-asleep, lying on his back under the covers. Ria was cuddled against him, and he was certain she had fallen asleep not long ago._

_"What happens when…well, a Nobody dies?"_

_At this, Zexion frowned. "Well…no one really knows. We've experiments a little with the lesser Nobodies, but the only thing we know for sure is that they fade," he explained. "I think since we don't have hearts, and are neither of light or darkness, that we just fade back into nothingness."_

_Silence came afterwards, and Zexion thought he felt her tense beside him._

_"You okay?" he asked, watching her._

_She had a contemplative expression on her face, and her eyes looked far away. Slowly, he watched her return from her thoughts until her eyes met his._

_"I'm…fine. It's just…"_

_"What?"_

_"Well," she looked at him, and he knew she found genuine curiosity in his eyes. So, she continued, "I don't think we really fade into nothingness. I know we shouldn't exist, but…we do. We should be destined to nonexistence afterwards, but I don't think it's true." She paused, took a breath, and started again, "Before we became Nobodies, we were human, and we had hearts. However way we lost our hearts, they should have returned to Kingdom Hearts eventually. And, I think that, well…isn't there a chance hearts are reborn, and their essence with them? __So, maybe after we fade, our souls meet up with our hearts again, and…we get another chance to live."_

_Her speech finished, she watched to see Zexion's reaction. He knew quite a number of thoughts were crossing his features: disbelief, a need to experiment with such a theory if experimenting was possible, question, and…hope. A small hope that maybe there was more out there for Nobodies that just this half-existence._

_Finally, he touched her cheek with a hand and said, "Maybe."_

_She gave him a smile, and he returned it._

_Resting her head on his bare shoulder, she settled into a more comfortable position. Zexion rested his head on hers, thinking for a moment._

_"Do you think after, you know, we fade—whenever that happens to be—that we'll find each other again?" she asked softly._

_Zexion laughed a bit at the unexpectedness of her question. When he looked down at her, he found Ria giving him a glare that was both amused and accusing at the same time._

_"Okay, no more staying up past midnight for you," he instructed playfully, "You daydream too much. Don't you ever sleep?"_

_"Hey, I'm the Spirited Reverie; I have a right to dream," she countered, poking his shoulder with a finger. "And of course I sleep. I just tend happen to think a lot before."_

_She shifted then, pulling the covers closer around her and relaxing against him. Kissing the top of her head, Zexion promised himself he would answer her question later. Whether or not she asked the question again, he wanted to give her an honest answer._

_But…_

_Would they meet again?_

I hope, Ariann, _Zexion thought, _I hope so.

_**The End**_

* * *

**Yes, this is the end of the story, Rianxan's story. I want to again thank EVERYONE who has reviewed, favorited, and alerted. You guys rock, and helped to make this story what it is.**

**THANK YOU!!!**

**Now, for a bit of news…PLEASE read! IMPORTANT STUFF!**

**1. This Saturday (April 28th, which also happens to be my birthday! Yay!) I will be putting up a 'story' called "Memories". This is actually going to be a series of oneshots, focused around Ria, the Organization, and the little things that happened while she was there. The story of Zexion and Ria's trip to Twilight Town will be the first up, and will be followed by others. Also, if you have _any ideas or requests/suggestions for oneshots, please let me know!_**

**2. I am already working on an idea for a sequel. Yes, a SEQUEL, as unexpected as it may seem. It will be called "Inner Workings", so be on the lookout for it. After the oneshots, I'm going to take a little time to catch up on my other stories. I have a lot more brainstorming and preparation to do for the sequel, so it won't be up until the end of May, I think.**

**3. I know a few of you have read one of my fanfics called "A Simple Story" with the chars of KH and FF in college in Twilight Town. And you probably know I've taken it down for some revision. Well, I'm happy to say that Ria is becoming a main character in that story, along with Naminé. The first OC from that story is gone, so I thought I would stick Ria in and see how she acts in an AU setting. That story should be up in a week or two. **

**4. I know you guys probably have questions, so…if you have _ANY _at all about this story, Rianxan, her past, the sequel, the college story, my random authoress self, stuff that wasn't cleared up, ANYTHING, please ask in a review or PM (_or for right now, EMAIL! Check my profile for my email address, because it should be there_). I will be happy to answer any questions you guys may have! All questions I will put in a special section of my profile, so you guys can read it. Please, any question rocks, even if it is something as unexpected and hilarious as "Did Ria ever randomly decide to go through Zexion's clothes one day, and wear one of his outfits around the Castle just for the hell of it?" xD**

**Again, you guys rock!**

Reviews?

**LadyDarkDreamer (AKA Silver)**


	38. Authoress' Note aka She Lives?

**[Very Very Long Overdue] Authoress' Note:** So, um...hi? :)

It's been quite a while since I've been bouncing around my own account. Lemme check the last update on a few of my stories...holy hell in a teacup. Three years since "The Spirited Reverie" was finished and two since my last oneshot. o_O What the hell is the matter with me?

Ah, well. Time to press forward!

I don't know how many of you out there with this story on your favorites/notifications list are still alive, or interested, or still even writing yourselves. But thanks to a little shove from one writer here, I'm going to try and start writing again. Which means I'm going to give an attempt at that sequel I promised to this little gem three years ago.

I've got a lot of stuff to do before I can work on getting a first chapter together, though. Thanks to a laptop accident and moving to a new house last year, nearly all my documents files and written notes are history. I've got to:

1. Reread Spirited Reverie. All 37 chapters.

2. Read up on the latest details in the Kingdom Hearts Universe. I'm currently replaying KH1 and KH2...and that's about it. It's come to my attention that there WAS an English version of the remake of CoM released, so I'll be getting that in June to play. Other than that, I have no idea was plot devices have popped up with the KH2 Final Mix, 358/2 Days, or Birth by Sleep (which hasn't even been released in North America yet, I think?). Other than something about a girl named Xion, who seems to be some kind of mash-up of Sora and Kairi? As if that doesn't sound really sketchy! Moving on. xD

3. Try and remember as much as I can about what I wanted to do for the sequel a few years ago. And from there, draft up a basic outline of plot points, characters, scenes, etc.

4. Actually write it.

All in all I should be up to #3, and ready to start the process of #4, by the end of July. I can't promise anything, but I WILL try! That being said, if anyone would like to reconnect/chat, has any requests for the sequel, questions, or anything like that, please PM me! I'd love to talk. :)

Cheers!

~Heartless Kittypet (HK)


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